


The Summer of Quinn Fabray

by that_girl65 (bootsncatz)



Category: Glee
Genre: F/F, Faberry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-11
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-04-20 07:34:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 29,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4778897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bootsncatz/pseuds/that_girl65
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summer was a time to start a new.  A time to reflect in the year and prepare for the next one.  It was a time of whirlwind romances and long endless nights.  For Rachel Berry, this summer would be unlike any other.  It was the summer of Quinn Fabray.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The heat laid heavy on Rachel’s shoulders as she biked towards the main part of town. Her legs began to burn gently from exertion and she relished the pain. At least it let her know she was doing something. 

The first two weeks of summer were disastrous so far. Kurt was gone to visit his aunt in California, Mercedes was at a Bible camp in Tennessee with Sam and everyone else....well, who knew. No one else really wanted to hang out with Rachel so she wasn’t even sure. Sure at first she thought she could just hang out with Finn, perhaps water their blossoming romance. But after watching him play Call of Duty for the third day in a row, Rachel decided that he was not for her at all. 

So the remaining few days she had been going through the house, reorganizing and cleaning everything. Even her father’s underwear drawers (much to their chagrin). Now that her whole house was spick and span and the picture of organization...she didn’t know what to do.

She stopped her bike in front of the drug store and chained it to the bike rack. Her heart was beating a little faster than normal from the exertion so she fanned herself a little bit before she walked in. 

The air conditioning hit her with full force as the automatic doors opened and she shivered before stepping inside. Rachel's eyes automatically fell on a person walking from the ice cream counter in the store and her heartbeat picked up significantly. 

Quinn Fabray's long golden hair fell gently on her soft pale shoulders, landing just at the beginning swell of her breasts that we're covered by a yellow bikini top. Her toned stomach was exposed, her hips just barely covered by short jean shorts that exposed her long legs. Rachel realized she was staring and snapped out if her daze with a blush, grateful that Quinn seemed to occupied with the ice cream dripping down her hand then the fact that her mortal enemy was staring at her. 

Rachel cleared her throat, "Quinn?"

The blonde paused, her tongue stopping it's movement up the side of her hand to catch the dripping ice cream and blinked at the petite girl. 

"Hey, Berry."

There was no hint of maliciousness in her voice and Rachel silently rejoiced, smiling brightly. 

"What are you doing here?"

Quinn's hazel eyes flickered from Rachel to the still dripping cone, "Um. Ice cream."

"Oh, I see," Rachel said as if it wasn't obvious. 

Quinn shifted awkwardly, her eyes darting to the door like she wanted to leave but wasn't sure how to say so. 

"What are, um, you doing here? I guess."

Rachel smiled, "I came to get some aloe for my dad. He didn't listen to me when I said he should put sunscreen on before lounging at the pool. He's very stubborn."

Quinn nodded slowly, trying to wipe some of the ice cream off of her hand. That seemed like all the response the former cheerleader was going to offer. Rachel looked around for a flash of tan skin and a bubbly blonde. 

"Where are Santana and Brittany?"

"Cheer camp," Quinn answered with a shrug, "Plus it's not like we spend ever second together, Berry."

Rachel blushed a little and she did what she always did when she was nervous. Rambled. The words were out of her mouth before he could stop them, "I was just asking. Actually, if you don't have any plans, would you like to come to my home to hang out? I would rather enjoy the company. And we have a pool. For swimming"

Quinn arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at her and Rachel braced herself for whatever bitchy insult would be thrown at her. What would it be this time? Manhands? Treasure trail? RuPaul? Maybe a comment about not wanting to go over to Liberace's house?

"Sure." 

Rachel blinked at her, "What?"

Quinn shrugged, "Sure."

That was the last thing Rachel expected. She couldn't help the smile that was spreading in her face as she bounced on her heels. 

"Perfect! Let me just grab the aloe and we can go."

Quinn just nodded and silently followed Rachel as she looked for the aloe. Instead of weighing out her options like she normally would and reading all the ingredients, she just grabbed the cheapest one and went towards the counters. She feared if she took too long Quinn would change her mind.

It was almost unnerving the way that Quinn was following her, making no sound except for the occasional crunching of her ice cream cone. She gave the attendant her money and looked over her shoulder to see Quinn looking mindlessly at the rack of magazines, her head bopping mindlessly to whatever song was on the intercom with the very last of her cone bobbing between her lips. Rachel smiled to herself and wondered if this was the real Quinn Fabray. Just the thought made her heart flutter. 

The Quinn she saw at school was already enough to make her heart go a flutter and her palms sweaty, but this Quinn, the real Quinn...well...that made it feel like someone reached into her chest and grabbed her heart, squeezing it for all it was worth.

“Ma’am!”

Rachel jumped and turned towards the sales clerk who was holding out her bag with a look of annoyance on his face. Blushing, she took the bag and looked back at Quinn who was looking back at her with a slight frown.

“Sorry,” Rachel said taking the bag and walking towards the door, Quinn following. She unlocked her bike then tried to figure out the logistics of the situation. They could walk but it took a long time to get to her house walking. Maybe if they went up Oak-

“I’ll just ride behind you,” Quinn said walking up to the bike and already swinging her leg over it. Rachel blinked and Quinn just blinked back.

“You ready?”

Rachel nodded and swung her leg over the middle. They were both standing on the bike, Rachel’s feet on the peddles and Quinn’s...who knew where? She felt Quinn’s hands settle on her waist for support as she began to peddle slowly, gaining momentum as she went. The bike jolted a little bit when she went over a bump and Quinn was launched forward, her body pressing up against Rachel’s back, hands shifting until they were spread on her stomach.

“Watch it, Berry,” Quinn said. Rachel could feel her hot breath on her shoulder and shivered.

“S-sorry, Quinn,” she managed to choke out. 

She noticed that Quinn wasn’t making a move to shift further away from Rachel and she silently cursed to herself. The swell of her breasts were pressed gently between her shoulder blades and Rachel could feel her bottom moving against, what she could only assume was her crotch, as her legs alternated between pushing and lifting on the peddles.

“I’m surprised you’re not afraid of being seen with me, Quinn,” Rachel said trying to distract herself from the ex-cheerleaders body pressed against hers. She instantly felt the other girl stiffen and regretted the words. “I’m sorry, Quinn, I didn-”

“I don’t care, Berry,” the girl answered, “I’m done caring about other people.” There was a long pause and something in her voice shifted, “Plus it’s not like any one’s here this summer anyways.”

Rachel just nodded wordlessly and breathed deeply through her nose. She could already feel a thin sheen of sweat appearing over her body and tried to slow down to bring down her heart rate, but with Quinn as close as she was that was pretty much impossible. She breathed a sigh of relief when her house was in sight, practically leaping from the bike and earning a confused look from Quinn who carefully climbed off the bike and put down the kickstand.

“You alright there, Berry?” Quinn asked with an amused smile. 

Rachel smiled nervously, “Y-yeah, of course! I’m just...a little tired from the ride.” She gave the blonde her best Rachel Berry smile before leading her to the front door. She unlocked the door but stopped before entering, turning to look at Quinn. “Now, Quinn, I must warn you that my fathers are very...enthusiastic and have a hard time controlling themselves around pretty girls. Also given our...less then cheery past, they may act oddly. So just prepare yourself.”

Quinn just blinked at her and nodded, “Okay.” 

Rachel beamed at her, happy there hadn’t been one insult thrown at her yet. She opened the door, relishing the feel of the air conditioner hitting her still overheated skin. “Dad, Daddy! I’m back!”

“In the living room, sweetheart!” Rachel heard her Daddy call out.

Rachel toed off her shoes and smiled in approval when Quinn copied her before they padded across the carpet into the living room. Leroy held out his arms like he hadn’t seen her in months and pulled her into his strong arms. She blushed and spoke firmly, “Daddy, we have company.”

He practically threw her from his arms and looked around, “New people? Where? Show me.”

Rachel huffed and looked back to see Quinn just peeking around the door to the living room, a shy smile on her face. “Hello, Mr. Berry,” she said walking towards the tall man, “I’m Quinn.”

She offered him her hand and he looked from her to her hand. “Quinn? Quinn Fabray?”

Rachel felt the blood drain from her face, expecting her father to go off on Quinn about her treatment of his daughter for the past two years. She bit her lip and rocked nervously on her toes when Quinn spoke up.

“Yes, sir. It’s nice to meet you,” Quinn said, hand outstretched and a polite “model child” smile on her lips.

Leroy took Quinn’s hand, giving it a short shake and returning the smile. “Nice to meet you, Quinn,” he said, “I must say, your company is much more preferred then that boy Rachel usually brings around. Hiram! We have company!”

Rachel rolled her eyes at her Dad’s mention of Finn. She heard the padding of her Dad’s footsteps coming down the stairs and Quinn threw an odd glance at her from over her shoulder. The blonde wrapped her arms around her stomach like she was suddenly self conscious. Rachel felt bad for putting Quinn in this situation. Here she thought she was just going to go get some ice cream and Rachel practically kidnapped her and was forcing her to meet her fathers.

Hiram, poked his head out of his office, adjusting his glasses to get a better look at the blonde standing in their hallway.

“She’s pretty,” he said simply, “Good job, Rachel.”

The heat rose in Rachel’s cheeks and she covered her face with her hands as her father ducked back into his office.

“Did you invite her to dinner, Rachel?” he called from the other room.

“Would you like to stay for dinner, Quinn?” Rachel said trying to will the blush away from her cheeks.

“Um, sure,” Quinn said as she looked away from Rachel, seeming suddenly very interested in the carpet.

“Great,” Rachel said grasping Quinn’s wrist without thinking, “let’s go outside.”

She dragged the blonde outside and back into the summer air. Rachel took a big gulp of air and sighed. She had always thought that her fathers were incapable of embarrassing her but apparently that wasn’t true. 

“They’re nice,” Quinn said as she sat on the edge of the pool. She put her hand in the water, testing the temperature before shaking the water off of her hand and slowly submerging her legs into the water.

Rachel couldn’t help but be entranced by her. How could anyone not be? She was beautiful. Like she had walked out of a magazine. 

Hazel eyes turned to her and Rachel remembered that she had said something.

“Oh, um, yeah. I’m very lucky,” Rachel answered as she sat down next to Quinn, legs folded against her chest. 

Quinn leaned back on her hands and watched the ripples echo across the water as she moved her legs.

“You are,” Quinn said quietly.

It seemed very final, so Rachel didn’t comment on it. It took a lot of restraint, but she didn’t say anything. Rachel had learned in the past couple of years that the best plan of action with Quinn was to just not comment on things that she said. Personal things anyways. Unless you wanted the cold shoulder forever.

They sat in silence for a few moments, Quinn staring at the ripples she was making in the water with her foot and Rachel....trying to look anywhere but at Quinn. But Rachel felt Quinn's presence pulling her eyes to her like a magnet and it was becoming increasingly harder to look away. Almost as hard as it was for her to keep her mouth shut. Anyone who knew Rachel knew it was rare to share a quiet moment when she was in the same room with them. Unless of course she was saving her voice for a big performance, though even then it was hard to ignore her over the top gestures and large white boards that she wrote on desperately to try and convey every single emotion that could possibly be going through her tiny body at that moment.

"How's your summer been?" Rachel asked, unable to contain herself any longer, "I'm surprised that you didn't go to cheer camp with everyone else."

Quinn visibly bristled and Rachel regretted opening her mouth.

"I'm done being a Cheerio," she said splashing the water a little with her foot, "Even if I wanted back on the squad I don't think Sue would have me."

She shrugged and looked down at her perfectly manicured nails. Rachel bit the inside of her cheek and played with the hem of her shorts. For someone who had been so far up Sue's butt, it was weird to hear Quinn renounce it so openly.

So instead, Rachel just nodded and looked back at the pool. If she knew any better, she would have kept her mouth shut for the rest of the time that Quinn graced her with her presence. But Rachel really didn't know any better when it came to Quinn.

"Are you seeing anyone?" Rachel asked as nonchalantly as she could, "Are you and Sam still an item?"

As soon as Rachel asked the question she knew she didn't actually want to know the answer. She didn't hold on to any sort of illusion that she had a chance with the former cheerleader. That didn't stop her from her daydreams of holding her hand and taking her on dates.

Quinn let out a humorless laugh and shook her head, flipping some of her hair over her shoulder.

"Boys are stupid."

Rachel blinked at the blonde and waited for more of a response. When none came, she just nodded and looked back at the water. She didn't think she had ever seen Quinn without a boy hanging off of her arm and was sure it wouldn't be long until there was another one to take Sam's place.

"I've been spending a lot of time with Finn," Rachel said, answering a question that wasn't asked, "He's okay. He's sweet at least."

"He's an oaf," Quinn said simply, her eyes cutting over to Rachel for the first time since they had stepped foot into her house, "You're wasting your time."

Rachel shrugged and pulled her knees to her chest, "I don't exactly have all of McKinley to pick from like...some girls."

She could feel Quinn's eyes on her and she looked up. Hazel eyes cut deeply into her, reminding her too much of a time when that look marched down the hall in a Cheerios uniform. 

"I don't either," Quinn said sharply. She looked away, nostrils visibly flaring before she stood up abruptly. Rachel nearly tripped over herself and fell into the pool trying to stand up as quickly as Quinn did, her foot slipping on the edge of the pool.

"I'm leaving," the blonde stated simply. She slipped her sandals back on and headed towards the backyards gate.

"Wait!" Rachel said as nonchalantly as possible, "Do you want me to bike you back to your place? Or I'm sure my dad could drive you."

Quinn didn't even bother looking over her shoulder at Rachel, instead she just opened the gate and stepped through.

"I'm fine. See you later, Berry."

With a final click of the gate, Quinn was gone and Rachel was left staring after her. She stood in shock for a few moments just looking at the spot where the blonde's figure had disappeared. That's what she got for opening her big mouth. She should have just let them sit in silence. Instead she had offended Quinn and now she probably would never hang out with her again. It was a miracle that she even came over the first time. Rachel thought over their conversation with a frown. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that Quinn had no reason to be upset with her. She hadn't said anything that directly correlated with her, why did she assume it was about her? Rachel huffed and walked back into her house.

She considered texting Quinn and asking what exactly she had done to offend her, but knew it would just make things worse. Confronting Quinn about anything had never actually made anything better. So instead she just went up to her room, ignoring her dad’s curious looks before closing the door and flopping on the bed. Maybe the summer wasn’t going to get any better after all.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

For the next few days, Rachel continued with her “at home” projects. Her room was spotless, she had all the glee playlists for the year figured out and she had started on her college applications. She had decided pretty early on that she was applying to NYADA, that was a given. But she decided to apply to a couple of “safe” schools under her fathers goading. So she was applying to some state school in California and another school in Kentucky which was, for all intents and purposes, a great school. It had a widely renowned theater program and had some amazing teachers. But it was in Kentucky. The last place Rachel wanted to go. She didn’t want to go from one ho-dink town to another. But she knew that none of this mattered because she would get into NYADA. It was just a fall back in case something happened. Which nothing would. 

In one of her attempts to make summer go by faster, Rachel had agreed to dog sit the Jones’ puppy next door. She figured it seemed fun and easy and a way to make a little mad money. Plus he was just a puppy. All she had to do was feed him and walk him. Easiest fifty dollars she had ever made.

Little did she know that the “puppy” was actually closer to a full size dog. All one hundred and fifty pounds of him would drag all one hundred pounds of her around the neighborhood like a rag doll. Even when she used her most commanding voice like all the dog blogs told her too, he still wouldn’t listen. 

Today she had come equipped in her jogging shoes and workout outfit, ready to take on this dog. Who’s name was Baby. What kind of name was that for a beast??

“Okay, Baby,” Rachel said staring at the dog from the other side of the fence, “Today is the day you listen to me. Alright? We need to have a mutual dog to human respect ratio happening and I don’t think it is. So I’m going to put this leash on you and you’ll walk like a proper dog. We’ll go to the park and you’ll run around and then you’ll go home. You won’t drag me on the ground like yesterday. Understood?”

The dog just looked at her dumbly, big tongue already rolling out of it’s mouth. Rachel nodded to the dog and opened the gate. Almost immediately it’s large paws were on her shoulders, knocking her back. It’s brown body towered over hers as she struggled to push it back down.

“No! Bad, Baby!”

She managed to get it back to the ground, hooking the leash around it’s collar. Almost as soon as it know that the leash was on the dog took off like a shot. No amount of Rachel digging her heels in or yelling at him to heel prevented him from straining at the end of his leash and pulling her down the street towards the park. 

When they finally made it to the park, Rachel felt her shirt sticking to her back, covered in sweat. Her hands ached from gripping the leash as tightly as humanly possible and she was sure her hair was in a disarray. She took Baby to the fenced part of the park set up especially for dogs and undid his leash. He took off again, running around the perimeter of the fence on long legs. Rachel scrambled to get out of the gate before he jumped on her again and shut the gate just in time for the dog to slam into it. He remained unfazed, not even pausing before taking off after another dog.

Rachel sighed in relief and walked over to a nearby bench to sit. She plucked her shirt from the front of her chest in an attempt to cool down, hands still throbbing. She looked over at the bench next to her and nearly stopped cold. A familiar blonde was sitting there casually, nose in a book. 

Great, just what Rachel needed. Quinn Fabray to thing that she was stalking her. Rachel blew her bangs from her face and observed the other girl for a moment. It was odd to see her so casual in shorts and a tank top. She was always done up to the nines at school when she wasn’t wearing her Cheerios uniform. But today Rachel couldn’t identify a single piece of designer clothing. 

She must have been staring a little too hard, because Quinn looked up at her, blinking before she realized who was staring at her. 

“Berry?” Quinn said with surprise, “Are you following me or something?”

Rachel rolled her eyes and smoothed out her shorts, “No. I just walked this beast dog over here for my neighbors.”

She gestured towards Baby who was still frolicking in the dog park. Quinn didn’t bother looked at the dog, her eyes still trained on Rachel in a way that made the brunette blush. 

“I think you’re following me.”

Rachel groaned and threw her hands up in exasperation. “Fine, believe what you want, Quinn.”

A smirk hinted at the corners of Quinn’s lips and she turned back towards her book, crossing one leg over the other and bouncing her foot.

Rachel turned back towards the dog park, trying to ignore how good Quinn’s legs looked in those shorts. She was still a little peeved with her about storming out on her the other day. Well…not storming as much as…walking she supposed. But still. 

Baby continued to run around the enclosed dog park area and Rachel did her best not to look over at Quinn every few moments. They were essentially sitting together, even if they were sitting on separate benches. And the lack of conversation in any way was killing Rachel. But Quinn didn’t want to talk, obviously, so maybe she should just not talk. For once. 

“How was your night last night?” Rachel asked casually. Damn. There went her mouth again. 

Quinn didn’t even bother looking up from her book before replying, “Fine. And yours?”

“Fine,” Rachel said. A perfectly acceptable answer. No need to add, “My father made pasta for dinner which is my favorite so that was nice. Then Dad and Daddy spent about an hour arguing over what movie to watch before settling on some movie from the sixties I’ve never heard of.”

Quinn finally looked over at her, eyebrow arched in a way that Rachel couldn’t read. “That sounds nice.”

“What are you reading?” Rachel asked scooting a little further over on her own bench to get closer to Quinn’s.

“Huckleberry Finn,” Quinn sighed, holding the book up so Rachel could see the cover. Rachel nodded in recognition. She was never much of a reader. She read the assigned reading and got A’s in all her classes, but when it came to her own downtime, she usually preferred music. She could read sheet music like a book and not get bored. 

“You like it?”

“Yes.”

Rachel nodded and swung her legs, looking back out at the dog park. It looked like Baby had finally worn himself out. He was laying on his side letting a little dog jump all over him. As much as she wanted to stay here and try and form another conversation with Quinn, it was clear the other girl wasn’t having it. So Rachel stood up and smoothed out her shirt.

“Well,” she said looking over at Quinn shyly, “I guess I’ll see you around then.”

With a small wave, she walked back over to the dog park gate and opened it. As soon as Baby heard the gate, his ears perked up and he seemed to regain energy, running on his long legs in Rachel’s direction. Rachel braced herself for the impact, grunting when the dog pushed her into the gate behind her. She wrestled his collar around to snap the leash into it and undid the gate carefully to make sure no other dogs got out. She ignored the amused looks of the other dog owners, watching this little girl try and handle the large beast they called a dog. She especially ignored Quinn’s amused look.

“Need some help there, Berry?” Quinn asked, finally closing her book to watch as Rachel struggled to pull Baby away from the park. 

“No,” Rachel puffed out unconvincingly, “I’m fine.”

Quinn watched for a few more moments as Rachel pulled on Baby’s leash, throwing all her weight in the direction she wanted him to go so when he finally began to walk (more like sprint) out of the park, she fell straight on her butt. Rachel pouted to herself and struggled to get up as the dog continued to pull. She didn’t even notice Quinn walk up to her until slender fingers took the leash from Rachel’s hand, their fingers brushing together. 

“Hey, bad dog!” Quinn said firmly with the same authority that she use to use on the Cheerios. Baby stopped, looking back at the new human. Rachel expected him to bound over to Quinn and knock her down like he did to Rachel. But instead he stood there, still looking at her curiously. 

“How’d you do that?” Rachel asked as she scrambled to her feet and wiped off the back of her shorts.

Quinn shrugged, “I used to have two big dogs. But my dad gave them to my sister when she moved out.”

“Oh,” Rachel said dumbly, reaching to take the leash back from Quinn. The blonde pulled the leash back with a small chuckle.

“I think maybe I should hold onto this.”

Rachel frowned and held out her hand for the leash, “Quinn, I agreed to babysit this dog. It’s my responsibility to take care of him and I guarantee that I can handle him.”

“Are you sure? Because it sure didn’t seem like that a minute ago,” Quinn asked.

“I’m sure,” Rachel said snatching the leash away. As soon as it was in her grasp, Baby lurched forward towards the sidewalk and nearly pulled Rachel’s arm out of it’s socket. She dug her heels in, trying to control the dogs speed, but he continued to pull forward.

“Heel!” Rachel said in her best authoritative voice, “Heel!”

Without a glance back he continued to march forward, easily dragging the brunette behind him. Quinn walked a little behind them for a moment before sighing and setting her hand on Rachel’s upper arm.

“Just…here,” she said taking the leash from Rachel, “let me help.”

Rachel was a little dazed by Quinn’s hand on her arm and let her take the leash from her without protest.

“Heel,” Quinn said with a small tug on the leash. Baby turned around and looked at her dumbly, but didn’t make a move to dash off. “I guess he’s not trained very well.”

Rachel bit back a sarcastic comment and followed behind Quinn. Every time the dog went to take a sprint at something, Quinn tugged on the leash or spoke a harsh command and then he would calm down. Rachel just watched in awe as Quinn managed to navigate the dog back to Rachel’s neighborhood without a problem. Also that Quinn remembered where she lived. 

“Where does this dog live, Rachel?” Quinn asked as Baby sniffed a mailbox.

“Oh, over here,” Rachel said leading Quinn to her neighbors yard. After the dog was safely back in the yard, Rachel wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and smiled at Quinn.

“Well, thanks for your help, Quinn,” Rachel said shyly, tucking some hair behind her ear.

“It’s no problem, Berry,” Quinn said, “I didn’t want your blood on my hands when that dog dragged you down the street.”

Rachel giggled and began to walk towards her house without even thinking about it. Quinn fell into step besides her and they walked in silence for a moment.

“Do you have anything else planned for the day?” Literally a moment.

“Um, not really,” Quinn said with a shrug, “My dad is bringing some of his work buddies over so it’s going to be a night full of awkward staring and old men trying to get me to sit on their laps.”

Rachel frowned, “Can’t you just…stay in your room?”

“My father would kill me,” Quinn said flatly. Rachel couldn’t tell if she was being hyperbolic or not. “It’s better to just suck it up and deal with it. Grin and bear it. I’m used to it by now.”

Rachel looked over at the blonde, who worried her bottom lip in silence, and hoped she wouldn’t look up to notice Rachel admiring her features. She hated that her heart squeezed a little bit every time they made eye contact. Luckily Quinn seemed to avoid eye contact with Rachel for the most part. 

“Maybe you should just tell your dad your not comfortable around his friends,” Rachel suggested as she twisted the hem of her shirt between her fingers, “Then perhaps he’d let you avoid them.”

“That would hardly make a difference, it would just make him insist that I stay around them.”

“Your dad seems…pleasant,” Rachel couldn’t help but murmur.

“He’s my dad, he’s fine,” Quinn said sharply.

“It doesn’t mean he’s right about everything,” Rachel said, ignoring the warning signs to stop talking like she always did. She didn’t notice the way Quinn’s fingers were practically digging into her book and her other hand was clenching and unclenching in a fist at her side.

“Yeah, well at least he’s not gay and the laughing stock of the town,” Quinn said turning to look at the shorter girl quickly. Rachel stopped in her tracks, staring ahead for a moment as she processed what Quinn had said. She was hurt but she was mostly angry. It had been a long time since Quinn had taken a dig at her. It had always hurt to a degree but Rachel had managed to build up a callous to it after a certain amount of time. But now she was too comfortable and her walls had come down.

“Excuse me?” Rachel said. Her small frame was shaking with anger both at herself and at the blonde.

Quinn ran a hand through her hair and rolled her eyes, “Nevermind, Berry. Just…whatever. Goodbye.”

Quinn turned on her heels and walked away, leaving Rachel gaping on the sidewalk. Rachel couldn’t help but notice the pretty blush on Quinn’s cheeks as she turned away. She hated that she noticed these things. She watched the blonde walk away for a moment before finding her mental footing again.

“Yeah, well at least my dad doesn’t push me off on perverts!” Rachel managed to spit out to the retreating back. The last thing she heard was a frustrated scream from Quinn’s figure before Rachel turned around and continued towards her own home. Maybe that’s what she got for having a crush on Quinn. A stupid, big fat school girl crush. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about running into Quinn anymore this summer.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your responses, guys! I love writing this story, so I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Even two days after her last encounter with Quinn, Rachel was still steaming. She was angry that she had bothered spending time with Quinn this summer and attempting to know her. And she was especially angry that her stomach still got little knots and her heart flip flopped every time she thought of the blonde. It was infuriating.

So when she was practicing her backstroke in the pool and she heard the pinging sound of a text message alert on her phone, the last person she was expecting it to be was Quinn. Part of her always hoped it was Quinn but it never was. Imagine her shock when she looked at her phone and saw Quinn’s name on the screen.

After swimming to the side of the pool, she wiped her hands off on the towel she had set on the lounge chair and quickly slid open her phone. With a scoff she read the disappointingly short text from the other girl. 

_Hey._

_Hello, Quinn_ , Rachel replied. She crossed her arms on the cement lip of the pool and rested her chin on them, legs kicking lazily in the water. Quinn reply came almost instantly and Rachel tried not to gloat.

_Are you busy?_

Rachel looked around at her surroundings. No company but the pigeons who insisted on nesting in the peak of the roof.

_Yes, quite, Rachel typed out quickly._

_Oh_ , was Quinn’s only reply. 

Really, Rachel should have just left it at that and continued with her swim without another thought of Quinn Fabray with her stupid pretty nose and stupid soft looking lips. But the curiosity was getting to her and she had to know what prompted Quinn to contact her after their last disastrous encounter.

_Why do you ask, Quinn?_

_I was wondering if you wanted to come over. We can swim or just hang out or whatever._

Rachel stared at the text for a moment trying to figure out what exactly would have gotten this response from Quinn. She had never texted Rachel before in all the years they had been in glee together. Rachel’s delayed response must have made Quinn think that she was hesitating so she texted again.

_Or we could hang out at your place._

It seemed that Quinn just really wanted to hang out with Rachel, and she couldn’t help but feel a little bit of a power trip from it. A smirk evident on her lips, Rachel typed back a response to Quinn.

_I suppose I could hang out. Your place or mine it doesn’t much matter._

_Then can I come over?_

Quinn’s quick response made Rachel giggle and press her face into her arm for a moment before she responded.

_Okay, I’ll be in the backyard feel free to let yourself in._

All thoughts of Quinn’s rude comments from before seemed to drift further and further away as Rachel thought about her asking to hang out with Rachel. Quinn Fabray asked to hang out with her. Even as far as inviting Rachel over to her house. The blonde didn’t let anyone in, Rachel know this for a fact, but she knew her well enough that this was probably the best apology she was going to get from Quinn any time soon.

Then the reality kicked in. Quinn was coming over. Now. Rachel pushed herself out of the pool and wiped herself off with a towel quickly. What should she do? She needed to seem casual but still…enticing. Enticing? Was she trying to entice Quinn now? No, that’s stupid. She checked her appearance in the camera of her phone, shaking out her wet hair a little. Maybe she should be casually lounging. Swimming? No, lounging.

Rachel laid out her towel on the lounge chair and sat down on it, laying back in a way that she hoped looked like she was just drying off a little bit after a long swim. She bent her knee and made sure her hair was fanned out behind her. She had to look…presentable at least.

She tried a few different poses, trying to figure out what exactly would be the best way to look casual but still…good. But before she could settle on one the sound of the gate creaking shocked her and she quickly scrambled to get into her first position.

“Oh, hello, Quinn,” Rachel said as casually as possible, sweeping some hair over her shoulder, “Nice of you to join me.”

Quinn frowned and Rachel could have sworn she saw the blonde’s eyes dart down her body for just a second. 

“Are we in Victorian England or something, Berry?” Quinn quipped before sitting on the other lounge chair and facing Rachel.

Rachel rolled her eyes and reached under her chair to grab the sunscreen she had stashed there earlier.

“Just because I speak proper english isn’t a reason to mock me,” Rachel said rubbing some sunscreen into her legs. If she wanted to be a star, she had to keep looking her best. And that meant sunscreen, proper hydration and a good night’s sleep. She had to keep her youth as long as possible if she wanted to be famous. Rachel was talented and she knew it, but she also knew her talent could only take her for so far at a certain point.

“I wasn’t mocking you,” Quinn said leaning back on the lounge chair and stretching her legs out in front of her. The witty retort died on her tongue when she looked over and saw long, bare legs stretched out on the lounge chair next to her. So instead of saying anything, Rachel just looked away and licked her lips, eyes trained on the water.

They sat in silence for a few moments, probably the longest that Rachel had ever sat in silence around Quinn, before Rachel felt herself practically twitch, wanting to say something. Anything. The silence was killing her. A movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and she turned just in time to see Quinn casually stripping off her tshirt to reveal a bikini top underneath. The air was knocked out of Rachel’s lungs and she probably couldn’t even say anything if she wanted to. 

Why was Quinn so…Quinn? Rachel blamed teenage hormones, but she was sure she had never seen anyone prettier or softer looking or just…so girly. All gentle curves and soft, milky skin. 

“Berry.”

Quinn’s voice interrupted Rachel from her daydreams and she blinked up at the blonde, the color rising in her cheeks. How long had she been staring? And most importantly, had Quinn noticed? Rachel could just imagine Quinn yelling at her and spreading rumors about how Berry was perving on her at the pool. She could practically feel the cold slushy running down her face and into her shoes.

“Yeah?” Rachel all but squeaked. 

“Can we go in the pool?” Quinn asked.

“Of course,” Rachel breathed out in relief. It looked like Quinn wasn’t going to verbally berate her. But she didn’t want to seem too surprised so she sat up on the chair. And she definitely didn’t want to read too much into that hint of a smirk on Quinn’s lips as she shimmied out of her shorts so she was left only in her bikini.

Rachel didn’t even have time to balk at her toned legs because Quinn immediately lowered herself gingerly into the pool, the water creating small waves around her as she ducked her head under the water. Rachel let out a long sigh and walked towards the pool, immediately jumping in with some vague attempt to cool her overheated body. Honestly she wasn’t sure if it was the sun or the stupid teenage hormones that were raging in her body, but it felt like her body was on fire. 

The cold water immediately cooled down her body and she kept her head under the water for as long as she could before coming up and gasping for air. Immediately as she broke the surface of the water, she felt a splash of water in her face and she sputtered, wiping at her face and flailing wildly.

“Quinn!” she coughed. She blinked at the other girl who had already swam across the pool and was leaning casually against the edge of the pool.

“What?” Quinn asked running a hand through her wet hair.

“Why did you splash me?” Rachel asked with a huff.

“I didn’t,” Quinn said fanning out her hand in front of her and looking at her nails.

“Well I didn’t splash myself!” Rachel insisted. She began to wade over to where Quinn casually stood at the deep end of the pool. As the water got higher, Rachel began to bounce on her tip toes just to keep her head above water.

“You better not come any more into the deep end, Berry. You might drown,” Quinn said kicking her legs out in front of her. Rachel tread water for a few moments, contemplating her next move. With a roll of her eyes, Rachel splashed Quinn as best she could from afar and leaned against the side of the pool closest to her. Quinn really seemed to know how to get to her. Not that Rachel was surprised.

They floated around in their respective places for a few moments, Rachel constantly looking over at Quinn to make sure she wasn’t going to splash her again. Also just because she liked looking at Quinn. 

The sound of the back door opening startled Rachel a little and she turned back to see her Dad walking out. Her lowered his glasses from his face and squinted at Quinn. When he realized what strange, blonde child had taken up residence in his pool he smiled and slipped his glasses into his shirt pocket.

“Hello, Quinn!” he said sitting on the edge of one of the lounge chairs, “I was just going to ask Rachel if she wanted to have out weekly Barbara movie, but I see she’s busy.”

Leroy winked at Rachel and she felt her face heat up about a million degrees. She ducked her head under the water just to hide her blush. Drowning seemed like it would be a really great option right now.

“Unless, of course, you’d like to join us?” he said still speaking to Quinn when she resurfaced, “Totally up to you. Us two old men won’t be heartbroken if you’d rather do whatever it is that teenagers do these days.”

“Daddy, Quinn doesn’t want to watch Barbara with us,” Rachel said pushing some of her wet hair from her eyes.

“You don’t know that, Ladybug,” Leroy said, of course using the most embarrassing nickname he had for her, “Let Quinn answer for herself. It is ‘Hello Dolly’ tonight. A classic.”

Rachel looked over at Quinn, hoping to convey to her through awkward eye contact, that she definitely did not need to say yes. Actually, she hoped she would say no so that she didn’t have to sit with her fathers and the girl she maybe…probably, had a crush on while watching a musical. Especially since she knew her fathers would insist on singing along.

“Sure,” Quinn said with a polite smile, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that movie.”

Leroy put his hand over his heart in mock dismay and looked over at Rachel.

“You haven’t shown this poor girl one of Barbara’s greatest films?”

“Daddy,” Rachel gritted out. If her face got any redder she’d probably explode.

Leroy rolled his eyes playfully and stood up, “I see I’ve embarrassed my daughter. So I’ll leave. It’s Chinese food for dinner, girls.”

With that, her Dad was off, walking back into the house. Rachel sighed and gave Quinn an apologetic smile.

“You really don’t have to stay if you don’t want to,” she said softly.

“Trying to get rid of me?” Quinn said flatly. Rachel really couldn’t tell if she was teasing or not. “You don’t want to hang out more?”

“Um…no. I just-…I know musicals aren’t really your thing,” Rachel managed.

“What makes you think that?” Quinn said looking at the opposite side of the pool.

“I mean…I guess I just assumed,” Rachel said with a shrug, “You don’t seem too interested in Glee.”

“That’s because Finn is there and he’s an idiot. Most of the people there are idiots,” Quinn said as she began to walk towards the pool stairs.

Rachel frowned and placed her hands on her hips, even if Quinn couldn’t see under the water. “So then why do you want to stay and hang out with an idiot?”

Quinn raised an eyebrow at her, hands on the railing of the stairs, “I didn’t say you were one of them, Berry.”

She pulled herself out of the pool and Rachel just stared after her, too shocked to even stare at her legs as she got out. Was it her fault if she had always just assumed that she was one of the people that Quinn referred to in a derogatory way? Quinn had never given her a reason to believe otherwise. Getting back to her senses, Rachel followed Quinn out of the pool and handed her a towel. They dried off and wrapped the towels around themselves before heading back inside where Rachel’s fathers were opening up containers of Chinese food.

Rachel remained mostly quiet as Quinn made polite conversation with her fathers and they gathered food before finding seats in the living room to watch the movie. Quinn sat down next to Rachel on the couch while her fathers took the other arm chairs on the side and started the movie. Rachel looked over at the blonde who sat, seemingly entranced by the movie, next to her. Was this what it was like to be Quinn Fabray’s friend? Rachel had always wondered what it would be like. Maybe now they were actually…friend friends. It was nice. Rachel smiled and looked back at the television as her fathers began to sing to the first number. She like being Quinn Fabray’s friend. It felt nice. And she tried not to think of how nice it would feel to be…more then her friend. That would be a path she would definitely not go down.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been MIA! Thank you to those who have stuck around. I promise it won't be so long anymore. This chapter I hit a wall and lost inspiration, but I think it's back now. Enjoy!

For the next few days, Quinn would text Rachel and see if she was busy and then she’d come over to hang out. Most of the time they just floated around in the pool, not saying much of anything to each other. When they did it would just be little things here and there. Observations, pleasantries. Rachel enjoyed the company. Since Quinn was silent for the most part, she just listened as Rachel would prattle on and on about whatever she was ranting about today. Sometimes Rachel would look over and see a small smile on the corner of Quinn’s lips. It made her warm inside.

So today, Quinn texted like she usually did and headed over. But by the time she got to Rachel’s, there was a light summer rain falling from the sky, creating light ripples on the surface of the pool. Quinn came into the backyard like usual as Rachel was just getting out of the pool.

“Guess we should go inside,” Rachel said just as the rain started to get a little heavier.

“Guess we should, Berry,” Quinn said already beginning to head towards the back door. Rachel grabbed her towel and jogged towards back door after Quinn. Rachel slipped and ran into the back of the blonde with a small squeak. Her arms automatically came out and wrapped around Quinn’s middle to keep herself from falling, her face pressed between the other girl’s shoulder blades.

“Sorry, sorry,” Rachel mumbled into Quinn back before jumping back. She flushed a deep shade of red and Quinn just stared at her for a moment before turning back around with a smirk.

“Watch it,” Quinn said sliding open the door and waiting for Rachel to walk inside ahead of her, “I’m starting to think you’re trying to take me out.”

Rachel only flushed deeper, but frowned in an attempt to seem unaffected, “Yeah, right. I know better then to try and take out a cheerleader.”

She walked into the house, Quinn following, and ran up the stairs as quickly as she could without her father’s noticing. She knew that as soon as the two men noticed that they were inside they would try and get “involved”. They meant the best, but they were always trying to be too cool, at least when it came to friends and dating. Maybe it was because Rachel had never necessarily had a lot of either of those things so she figured they were just excited for her. It never truly bugged her, but Quinn just seemed so skittish that Rachel didn’t want to risk it with her. If her father’s scared her away, Rachel had no doubt that she’d never be back.

They got up to her room and Quinn looked around, an expression on her face that Rachel couldn’t quite read. Rachel went into her closet and grabbed a fresh set of clothes. She pulled out an extra pair of shorts and a shirt for Quinn, offering it to her.

“Would you like to change, Quinn?” Rachel asked. She took a moment to look over Quinn’s outfit, shorts and a tank top over her bathing suit, and realized that the answer would probably be-

“No, Berry,” Quinn said only glancing at Rachel once before continuing her exploration around the brunette’s room. Rachel just shoved the clothes back in her closet and ducked into the bathroom. She quickly pulled off her bathing suit and hung it in the shower before drying off to slip on her shorts and shirt. Rachel looked at herself in the mirror for a moment, brushing her wet locks and straightening out her shirt before walking back out. She figured that leaving Quinn Fabray in her room for an extended period of time was not the best idea. Who knew what embarrassing things she had in her room that she didn’t bother putting away. It wasn’t as if she was expecting Quinn to be in her room anytime soon.

Quinn was looking at a picture of Rachel and her fathers on her nightstand and she looked over at Rachel as she walked out.

“You like your parents,” it wasn’t a question, “That’s nice.”

Rachel nodded and sat on the bed. “I’m very fortunate. Do you like…your parents?”

Rachel regretted the words as soon as they slipped out. Quinn just let out a humorless chuckle and sat in Rachel’s computer chair. She spun herself once, hands folded on the top of the chair back. 

“So, Berry,” Quinn said stopping herself with her toe against the carpet, “What do you want to do?”

“Well, we could watch a movie,” Rachel said not about to let Quinn’s non-answer about her parent’s go, “Or we could just talk.”

“What movies do you have?” Quinn asked as she looked down at her nails. Rachel sighed and moved over to the cabinet under her television. She opened it up and gestured at the DVDs, mostly musicals, all in alphabetical order. Quinn slid off the seat and sat next to Rachel, legs tucked under her. “Do you have every musical known to man, Berry?”

“No, actually, I haven’t filled out my collection of contemporary musicals,” Rachel said not noticing Quinn’s amused eyebrow raise, “For example, I’m missing the musicals from the early 2000s.”

“You’re right, it’s so glaringly obvious I’m surprised I didn’t notice it before,” Quinn mumbled sarcastically. 

Rachel huffed and rested her back against her bed, “It’s a bigger deal then you think, Quinn.”

Quinn ignored her, instead choosing to get a closer look at the movies. Her finger glided along the spines of the cases, venturing to the ones in the very back before closing around one. She pulled it out and took a brief look at it before handing it to Rachel. She looked at it for a moment before blinking up at Quinn.

“Really?” Rachel asked fighting back a small smile.

“Yeah, what’s wrong with it?” Quinn asked as she leaned against the bed.

“Nothing,” Rachel said quickly, biting her lips between her teeth and opening the case, “I guess I just never saw you as a ‘West Side Story’ kind of girl.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Quinn asked looking over at Rachel sharply.

“Nothing,” Rachel said putting the DVD in the player and leaning back against the bed with Quinn. They were sitting close enough that their arms barely brushed together, and it was enough to make Rachel fidget with her hands nervously as the movie started.

They were only a few minutes into the movie when Quinn nudged her with her elbow, “Stop it.”

“Stop what?” Rachel asked innocently.

“You’re fidgeting, Berry,” Quinn said, her eyes never leaving the screen. 

“Fine,” Rachel huffed, folding her hands in her lap. Her thumbs circled each other nervously and she crossed her ankles tightly. It was paining her to not talk through the movie and even harder to not sing along with the songs. Her fingers moved faster around each other with each second that passed. Rachel jumped about three feet in the air when she felt a firm hand over hers.

“Berry,” Quinn said firmly, “you’re driving me insane.”

“Sorry,” Rachel squeaked looking over at Quinn from the corner of her eye. Hazel eyes bore into the side of her head, Rachel’s hands getting sweatier with each second that Quinn’s hand covered hers. Her heart raced in her chest and she silently wondered if this was the closest that Quinn had ever been to her. She thought about how soft Quinn’s hands were and…was that perfume she was wearing? It was nice. Rachel wondered what it was. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Quinn pulled her hand back and Rachel let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. 

As soon as Quinn’s hands were back in her own lap, Rachel sat on her hands to keep herself from fidgeting again. Although she liked the feeling of Quinn’s hands over hers, she thought that if it happened again she might die of a heart attack. 

She let herself get back into the movie, but then ‘Maria’ came on and her body was practically vibrating from holding back her singing. She began to hum under her breath and Quinn just sighed.

“Go ahead and sing, Berry,” Quinn said softly, “I know you want to.”

“No, I don’t,” Rachel said unconvincingly.

“I know you well enough to know that’s a lie,” Quinn said.

Rachel looked over at Quinn, a small smile starting on her face, “Are you sure? You really don’t mind?”

Quinn’s eyes never left the screen, “Just sing.”

Rachel didn’t need to be told twice. She belted out the last few verses of Maria that were left with a flourish, looking over at Quinn with a wide smile. Quinn remained impassive, her eyes still on the screen like Rachel hadn’t just burst out into song. Rachel rolled her eyes and pouted a little. She wasn’t used to being ignored. No bother, though, she had the whole rest of the movie to elicit a response from Quinn. But they went through the whole musical, her eyes darting over to Quinn after every song. Still, Quinn remained seemingly unmoved. 

“You really need to stop looking over at me expecting some sort of reaction,” Quinn murmured as the second to last song came on. 

Rachel blushed, “I was not.”

“Were too,” Quinn said shortly, “Rachel Berry can't stand someone not telling her how amazing she is.”

Rachel huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, “That is simply not true, Quinn.”

Quinn raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow and glanced over at Rachel briefly. “Whatever you say.”

Everything about Quinn was infuriating, Rachel decided. She certainly was not looking for praise, just…a little acknowledgement. Quinn was acting like she wasn’t even there! The least she could do was look at her. The credits rolled and Rachel just frowned at the screen until it went back to the opening menu. Rachel made work of putting away the DVD and sat back against the bed.

“Do you really not like my singing?” Rachel asked softly.

Quinn rolled her eyes, “Jeez, Berry. Are we still on this?”

“Because although I know my voice is, for the most part, flawless, I’m aware that people have different musical tastes-“

“Rachel-“

“-and I’m interested in hearing your take on my voice. Out of curiosity. Although I can’t change your apparent lack of culture-“

“Hey!”

“-I can at least try and figure out how to make my voice more appealing to all kinds of people. People who appreciate art and simpler people alike.”

“Are you calling me simple?” Quinn asked flatly.

Rachel blushed, “No. I’m just saying that some people don’t know how to appreciate music.”

“I appreciate music,” Quinn said blinking at the brunette, “I like listening to it.”

“You say that yet I can’t help but think of your apparent disinterest in glee,” Rachel said folding her legs to her chest and turning to look at the other girl.

“I’m not disinterested,” Quinn practically scoffed, looking down at her nails once again.

“Then why are you always reading in glee? You can read somewhere that doesn’t involve people singing and dancing around you. It must be awfully distracting,” Rachel pointed out.

Quinn frowned at her, “I’m not always reading.”

“You are. On average you read about two books a week. Depending on the length and national origin of the book. I’ve noticed that the Russian novels take you a little longer,” Rachel said with a nod.

“Why are you keeping tabs on my reading habits like that, Berry?” Quinn asked with a raise of her eyebrow.

“As the self appointed Capitan of Glee, it’s my job to keep tabs on everyone. For example, Sam goes through one and a half tabs of chapstick a week.”

“You realize that’s kind of creepy, right?” 

“So why do you go to Glee? Especially if you don’t like my voice,” Rachel asked with genuine curiosity. 

Quinn rolled her eyes and ran an exasperated hand through her hair, “I do like your voice, Rachel!”

Rachel paused for a moment before a wide smile lit up her face, “You do?”

With a sigh, Quinn stood up and began towards Rachel’s door. “Okay, well, it was…fun. I’ll see you later, Rachel.”

The brunette scrambled up from her place on the floor and practically ran to the bedroom door. She put her hand on the knob, Quinn yanking her hand back when her fingers brushed over Rachel’s.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay a little longer?” Rachel breathed out. 

“And wait for you to bring out the color coded charts of everyone in Glee’s bathroom habits out? I don’t think so,” Quinn murmured, “I’ll text you later, Berry.”

Rachel let go of the doorknob and Quinn walked out. She listened as her footsteps echoed down the stairs and out the door. With a sigh, Rachel flopped herself onto the bed. She was still in a little bit of shock at what happened. She wasn’t entirely sure what happened. She just knew that something went wrong, like things usually did with Quinn. There was always something that brought their hangouts to a screeching halt. Usually Rachel could pinpoint the exact comment or action that caused it, but today she wasn’t so sure. Her phone buzzed and Rachel looked at it.

_I’ll see you tomorrow, Berry. No more musicals._

Rachel smiled, unable to help the small squeak of excitement that escaped her lips as she fell back onto the bed.


	5. Chapter 5

“I can’t do this anymore, Berry,” Quinn mumbled into Rachel’s comforter. 

“Come one, Quinn, we’re close,” Rachel said looking intensely at the game board. She was sitting on the floor, legs crossed in front of her as she hovered over the game intensely. Quinn was laying on her stomach on Rachel’s mattress, top half bent over the side as she looked at the board. Rachel noticed that she got on the bed when she began to lose interest in the their task at hand.

Rachel looked from the fake money in her hand, to the board once more. She chewed her lip nervously and threw the money on the board towards Quinn.

“Fine, I’ll buy the property,” Rachel said dramatically.

Quinn just grunted in response.

The brunette blinked at her for a moment, “Quinn, as banker you’re supposed to take the money I just gave you in exchange for purchasing this property.”

Quinn swiped at the money, taking several game pieces with her as she went.

“What are you doing? You’re the one who insisted on being banker.”

“Only because you insisted we play this ridiculous game,” Quinn murmured.

“You didn’t have any better ideas,” Rachel said under her breath. 

Quinn threw the handful of money at Rachel and she swiped at it angrily. The blonde rolled onto her back and looked up at the ceiling for a moment as Rachel began to pick up the game pieces. Bringing out the Monopoly had been one of Rachel’s attempts to make her hang outs with Quinn more…engaging. They had long abandoned the pool and ended up going straight to Rachel’s room and doing one of three activities: watching a movie, sitting in complete silence or Quinn sitting in complete silence while Rachel talked on and on about whatever came to mind. The silence killed Rachel. She was sure that Quinn hadn’t said more then a handful of words to her for the couple of weeks or so they had been hanging out.

So out came the board games. Something - anything - to maybe make Quinn talk a little bit more. But it didn’t seem to be working.

“Well then what do you want to do?” Rachel said with a huff.

Quinn rolled back over onto her stomach and picked up the remote for Rachel’s television. Rachel left the game half put away on the floor and got up in the bed next to Quinn. She made sure to keep a good distance away from her. The few times that their arms had brushed or fingers accidentally ghosted each other, Rachel would stiffen up and almost have a heart attack. Since then she remembered that there needed to be at least a foot between them at all times.

The blonde didn’t even bother answering, just folding her arms under her chin and turning on the television. Rachel sighed and watched as Quinn flipped through different channels, never staying on one for more then a few minutes. Rachel tapped her finger on the comforter to the beat of a song stuck in her head. She was sure that she would combust at any moment from boredom.

“Let’s play a game,” Rachel said bouncing up and sitting cross legged on the bed. 

Quinn didn’t bother looking from the television as she answered, “We tried that already, Rachel. You chose the most boring game in the entire world.”

“A different kind of game,” Quinn said with a roll of her eyes, “Let’s talk about-…” Rachel wracked her mind, trying to think of something that Quinn liked and could probably talk about for hours. But the only thing she came up with was - “boys.”

The blonde just blinked at her blankly and rolled over on her back, hand resting on her stomach, “Fine. What about them?”

Rachel bit her lip in excitement and clasped her hands in front of her chest. Finally, something to talk about with Quinn. Now just to keep the conversation going. “Why’d you break up with Sam?”

Quinn shrugged and folded an arm behind her head. “He was boring.”

That was pretty much what Quinn said about every boy she had ever dated when asked about their breakup. They were boring. Rachel wondered if she had ever met a boy that she found interesting. So far it didn’t seem like it.

“He really loved you,” Rachel said matter-of-factly. Quinn just shrugged and looked at her nails. The blonde’s indifference when it came to her boyfriends, current and ex, always intrigued Rachel. Quinn Fabray could get any boy she wanted with nothing more then indifference, and she always dumped them with the same indifference. It was probably the reason why the school called Quinn the Ice Queen of McKinley. To most it was as if Quinn had no feelings and displayed no emotion other then bitchiness. But Rachel knew better. Rachel always knew that Quinn was more then just a beautiful face and a seemingly rude exterior.

“Who’s the next boy you’re going to date?” Rachel asked pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. It was almost a masochistic question. Rachel was just basically just asking Quinn who she was going to be insanely jealous of next.

“What? You think I already have a boy lined up as my next boyfriend?” Quinn asked with a frown. 

“I’m just saying, Quinn, you’re rarely without a boyfriend,” Rachel said resting her cheek on her knees. She had paid far too much attention to Quinn’s boyfriends over the years. It was something that she was acutely aware of, even though she wouldn’t admit it to herself for the first year or so of knowing Quinn. The question remained unanswered and Rachel nodded towards the blonde. “Ask me a question now.”

Quinn sighed over dramatically and looked over at Rachel, hazel eyes piercing her. “Are you still dating Finn?”

Rachel frowned and shook her head, “I’ve never dated Finn.”

“I thought you were hanging out with him at the beginning of the summer.”

Rachel had actually forgotten about her hang outs with Finn. He was a sweet boy, but nothing more. It was nice to get attention from him, but Rachel liked attention from pretty much everyone so she wasn’t sure if that was something she should base her dating criteria on. She had stopped calling him to hang out after her and Quinn started spending time together and good riddance. Rachel would much rather take the days on end of no talking then watching Finn play his violent video games for hours. Plus Quinn smelled much nicer then Finn ever did. 

“We were hanging out, but that was it,” Rachel said with a shrug, “All we really did was sit around while I watched him play games. His mom would come in every few minutes asking if we needed anything and he never looked away from the television.”

“That sounds about right.” Quinn’s laugh floated through the air and sent a chill up Rachel’s spine. She didn’t think she had heard Quinn laugh like that in…a long time. The soft, genuine laugh that came out every once in a while. Rachel wished that she laughed more.

“So who are you interested in now?” Rachel asked curiously, maybe asking the question a different way would prompt a different answer.

“No one, really,” Quinn said looking over at Rachel. Their eyes held each other for a few moments before Rachel looked down at her feet.

“You have to think someone is cute,” Rachel said.

“Like who?”

“What about that tall football player in our English class?”

“Simon? No,” Quinn said with an amused frown.

“Mm, what about Luke the Rugby player? He’s your type.”

“No. And I don’t have a type.”

“What? Then what about Preston? The Senior?”

“Definitely not,” Quinn said shaking her head.

“Those are the three best looking boys in the whole school, Quinn,” Rachel said with a smile.

“I just don’t like them.”

“Do you even like boys?” The words were out of Rachel’s mouth before she could stop them, her heart faltering in her chest. Quinn blinked at her for a moment, quietly, face unreadable. Hazel eyes held brown and as much as Rachel wanted to look away she couldn’t. The seconds passed like hours and Rachel wished that Quinn would just say something, anything. Hopefully a smile and they could laugh it off like it was never said. Rachel would take the words back if she could. 

Quinn broke eye contact with Rachel and scoffed, looking up at the ceiling. “What’s that supposed to mean, Berry?”

“N-nothing, it was just a joke-“

“Of course I like boys, I’ve dates all the ones worth dating, that’s all,” Quinn said sitting up and running a hand through her hair, “At least I’ve actually had a few boyfriends which is more then I can say for you. Do _you_ even like boys?”

Rachel just stared at her, speechless for the first time in probably years. She did, technically, like boys. She had dated Jesse and had wanted to date Finn at some point. It just happened that she liked girls too. Specifically Quinn. And that one girl from her dance class that was really cute and friendly…but mostly Quinn.

She looked away from Quinn and down at her bedspread. “Well-“

“Are you gay, Rachel?” Quinn asked incredulously.

“I don’t like to label things,” Rachel said softly. It was nothing to be ashamed of, she knew that. But that didn’t mean that Quinn still wouldn’t try to make her life a living hell for it. Her father’s had always taught her to be proud of who she was, and that’s what she was trying to do.

Quinn stood up abruptly and picked up her bag. “I have to go, Berry,” she said already making strides towards the door.

“Quinn, are you leaving just because I happen to like girls?” Rachel asked standing up and following her across the room, “You know, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Girls are very pretty. They smell nice and are soft and have better hygiene then most boys-“

“Stop talking!” Quinn said spinning around to face Rachel. They had stopped mid stride and Rachel jumped a little in surprise, specifically at how close Quinn was to her. They were only a few inches apart and…wow, she was really pretty with that wild look in her eyes and her breathing a little heavy like that. “I have to go.”

Quinn turned on her heels and walked out of the bedroom, Rachel just staring after her. She heard Quinn say a polite goodbye to her fathers and the distant sounds of the front door closing. Crossing her arms in front of her chest, Rachel tried to process what had just happened. Maybe she should call Quinn…no she would never answer now. Although Rachel wasn’t ashamed of her fluid sexuality, she certainly didn’t want it spread to every person at McKinley before Quinn even got home.

Rachel threw herself onto her bed and reached for her cell phone, typing a quick message to Quinn.

_‘I’m sorry I shocked you with my confession about my fluid sexuality. I understand that it’s something that can be hard to imagine. Although I’m willing to answer any questions you may have about it openly and honestly, I’d prefer if you didn’t tell anyone else at the moment. After all, it is in my rights to come out on my own when I’m ready.’_

Satisfied, Rachel hit send and waited for Quinn’s response. Which never came. Rachel was laying on her bed practically staring at her phone as she waited for a response. Nothing. All through dinner all she could think about was her phone in her pocket and how Quinn was not answering her message. She had taken a break from washing dishes, about to call Quinn and give her a piece of her mind about texting etiquette when her phone buzzed with a message. Rachel opened it quickly and read the message from Quinn.

_‘Just stop talking, Berry. I won’t tell anyone.’_

Rachel practically jumped up and down with joy, but it proved difficult to type on her phone while moving so she kept both feet firmly on the ground and typed back.

_‘Thank you, Quinn. Are you still planning on coming over tomorrow?’_

_‘Why do you have other plans?’_

_‘No.’_

_‘Then yeah, I’ll be there. Like always.’_

Rachel did her best to bite back her smile and typed back a simple happy face before going back to the dishes.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day, Rachel was expecting a flurry of questions from Quinn about her confession from the day before. Instead she just walked into Rachel’s room like nothing had happened and plopped herself on the bed next to the brunette. Blonde hair spread out on the pillow behind her as she laid back and Rachel just looked at her for a moment. Quinn had been coming over so often that these days she just walked in, said hello to the Berry men who were usually in the living room watching their daytime talk shows or reading, and walked up to Rachel’s room. 

Hazel eyes fluttered over to brown, a perfectly sculpted eyebrow arching. “What, Berry?”

Rachel blushed and looked away, licking her lips nervously. “Nothing.”

She could still feel Quinn’s eyes on her and she fidgeted with the edge of her skirt nervously. It was like a spotlight, searing into the side of her head, but she didn’t have a solo or monologue prepared. She was frozen. Her breath was caught in her throat until she felt Quinn’s eyes move away from her. Rachel let out a small breath of relief and leaned back against the pillows next to the blonde. 

“What do you want to do, Quinn?” Rachel asked carefully, smoothing out her skirt over her thighs. The blonde shrugged, not that Rachel expected anything else. They had been doing the same song and dance since they started hanging out. Quinn would come over and be perfectly content doing absolutely nothing while Rachel silently went insane from the silence. “There’s nothing you want to do? No…questions for me?”

Quinn frowned for a moment as if thinking, then shook her head. “Nope.”

Rachel wasn’t sure whether she should be relieved or disappointed that Quinn didn’t have any questions for her. Part of her wanted Quinn to ask her all kinds of questions about their discussion from yesterday, but she was also glad that she didn’t feel the need to ask questions. Quinn just accepted it and Rachel was more then okay with that. It was more the Rachel could have hoped for, really. So she counted her blessings and just folded her hands on her lap. Quinn pulled a book out of…where did she get that book? Rachel didn’t remember her walking in with one…but none the less, she was reading and Rachel was sitting twiddling her thumbs again. 

“What are you reading?” Rachel finally asked. Quinn just pointed at the cover, eyes never leaving the page. Rachel bit the inside of her cheek and nodded, crossing her ankles and staring up at the ceiling. “Wanna go for a swim?”

“Sure,” Quinn said with a shrug as she set her book aside. Rachel bounced off the bed, relieved that at least they’d have the excuse of lounging in the pool to not talk. Quinn followed Rachel down the stairs and out the back door. Rachel slipped of her shorts and tank top where her bathing suit was hidden underneath. She dipped her toe into the pool to test the temperature before sitting on the edge and slowly sinking into the water. Quinn sat on a lounge chair, leaning back and opening the book up again. Rachel frowned at her, gripping the edge of the pool.

“Quinn!” Rachel said with disbelief, “I thought we were going to swim?”

“I just want to read, Berry,” Quinn said peeking at her from the top of the book. Rachel couldn’t help the pout that decorated her face at that comment. Quinn just blinked at her and rolled her eyes. “What?”

“You said you wanted to swim,” Rachel said resting her chin on her hands. Quinn sighed and set the book down with a flourish. She stood up and pulled her shirt over her head and Rachel couldn’t help but blush. She forced her eyes down as Quinn slipped her shorts down her legs, leaving her in her bathing suit. Water lapped against her body from the ripples where Quinn had slipped into the water next to Rachel.

“Happy now?” Quinn said leaning her head against the side of the pool. Rachel looked at her, less then a foot away, and smiled happily.

“Yes. Thank you, Quinn,” she said kicking off the side of the pool and back stroking to the other side of the pool. She heard Quinn sputtering and wiped the water from her eyes to see Quinn glaring at her, water dripping from her face.

“Berry,” Quinn said dangerously low, “why did you do that?”

“Do what?” Rachel asked maybe a little too innocently. She hadn’t intended to splash Quinn in the face, but it was just a happy accident. The blonde brushed her wet hair away from her face and glared at the other girl on the side of the pool.

“You’re dead, Berry,” Quinn said moving as quickly as she could to the other side of the pool and Rachel tried to dart away, only catching herself in a corner. Quinn splashed water into Rachel’s face and she gasped in mock horror before splashing Quinn back.

“Quinn Fabray! That is not prim and proper of you!” Rachel said trying to splash water in Quinn’s face again. Quinn blindly reached for Rachel through the wall of water that the brunette kept moving in her direction. A pale hand finally closed around Rachel’s wrist and the other finally caught her forearm, effectively stopping the splashing. 

Rachel didn’t even have time to react to Quinn’s hands on her, instead it just took a second of seeing blonde hair plastered over Quinn’s face to make her dissolve into giggles. 

“You think this is funny?” Quinn asked. a piece of wet hair moved a little and Rachel assumed she was raising an eyebrow at her.

“A little,” Rachel said unable to stop the giggles escaping past her lips. Quinn huffed and shook her head wildly, spraying Rachel with water and slapping her with long strands of hair. She squealed and looked at Quinn incredulously. A slow smile spread over Quinn’s face, perfect white teeth coming into view and Rachel just pouts at her. It’s probably the biggest most genuine smile that Rachel has ever seen from the other girl and it throws her off a little. But Rachel’s pout eventually dissolves into a soft smile and she begins to realize that Quinn’s hands are still on her wrist and arm. 

Quinn blinks at Rachel for a moment, her smile not fading, just softening a little. Quinn lowers her hands, still holding on to Rachel, and takes a small step forward. Their standing closely, the closest that they’ve ever been, for this long of time anyways. The seconds tick by like hours as you watch every subtle movement and change in her face. Rachel thinks that maybe Quinn’s eyes dart down to her lips, but she also things that could be a figment of her hopeful imagination.

Quinn licks her lips slowly and a thrill goes through Rachel at the sight. They’ve become so still that the water isn’t rippling around them anymore, it’s gone completely still. Rachel’s afraid to breath, sure that any little movement will break the moment. Hazel eyes are trained on brown and Rachel swears they’re getting closer and closer. She can feel tiny puffs of breath of her lips and she wishes she could just close the gap between them once and for all. But Quinn is like a skittish rabbit, even the slightest of movements could make her change her mind forever and Rachel doesn’t want to risk that. Everything is in Quinn’s power now.

But they’re slo close, Rachel can practically taste her lips and she should be surprised that Quinn Fabray looks like she’s about to kiss her, but for some reason she’s not. For some reason it feels like this has been a long time coming, even if there’s no evidence to support that theory.

Suddenly Rachel can’t take it anymore. Quinn is so close, barely a centimeter away and the time is going so slow that she’s not sure if they’ve been staring at each other for thirty seconds or three hours. The blonde looked beautiful and her lips looked so soft. Rachel would be lying if she said that she hadn’t thought about kissing them multiple times. Here her dreams are so close to coming true and it was driving her insane. 

She couldn’t hold herself back anymore, her entire body was vibrating in anticipation. Rachel surged forward to press her lips to Quinn’s, her eyes shut tightly. 

Fireworks.

That was the only thing that was going through Rachel’s mind. She didn’t even have the opportunity to fell anything other then the burst of warmth and happiness in her chest.

Their lips barely pressed together before someone pulled away, Rachel wasn’t sure who. The only evidence that their lips had been pressed together at all was the way Rachel’s lips tingled and her entire body felt flushed.

Her eyes fluttered open expecting to see hazel eyes peering at her with…something. Probably hate or disgust, but preferably love and adoration. Instead she saw long lashes, eyes still closed and mouth slightly puckered. Their faces were so close that Rachel could still feel Quinn’s breath playing over her lips and she wasn’t willing to break the moment. Instead she just took a moment to look over Quinn’s features. Or at least she would have if Quinn hadn’t chosen that moment to close the gap between them once more and connect their lips. The kiss was hard, almost desperate, but short. It was like Quinn had taken that last kiss to figure something out to…to feel something. 

All Rachel saw were stars. It was like the stars and the planets had collided and created this moment, this spark between her and Quinn that couldn’t be ignored. If it was possible, the second kiss was even better then the first even if it was shorter. 

Even though their lips weren’t connected anymore, Rachel’s still tingled. Her eyes remained shut, breath a little shaky as she waited for Quinn to kiss her again. She would, right? After all she had kissed her a second time and what was a third time after a second time but -

Rachel felt her leave before she saw her. The water rippled almost violently around her and Rachel finally opened her eyes just to see Quinn wading away from her at an impressive speed. She’d probably be running if the waist high water hadn't prevented her from it. 

“Quinn,” Rachel said, almost like a question as she watched the blonde retreat. Quinn didn’t even turn around. Rachel moved quickly after her, cursing how her eyes wandered to Quinn’s legs as she lifted herself out of the pool. She had always been a fan of her legs. Those Cheerios skirts never really left anything up to the imagination and Rachel was definitely not complaining. But in times like this when she was trying to focus on something other then how strong Quinn’s legs look they really were a distraction. 

By the time she reached the edge of the pool, Quinn was pulling on her shirt even though she was soaking wet and the fabric was clinging to her body in a way that should be illegal.

“Quinn,” Rachel repeated as she stood watching the blonde who looked like she was doing her best to pretend the shorter girl wasn’t even there. “Quinn!”

“What, Berry?” Quinn said harshly but not unkindly. She didn’t even bother turning around as she picked up her book and started towards the gate. 

“Quinn, stop, you can’t just-“

“I can’t just what, Rachel?” Quinn hissed through her teeth, still not bothering to turn around as she stomped towards the gate. 

Rachel rocked on her heels, hands in tight fists at her sides as she stood in place where a small puddle was forming under her. “You can’t just leave, not after-…that.”

“After what?” Quinn said as she gripped the handle of the gate, knuckles turning white. Rachel took a tentative step towards Quinn. Her nails dug into her palms as she tried to search through the words in her head. All she could think about was how Quinn’s lips felt against hers and how badly she wanted to feel that again. But Quinn was standing at the gate like she was ready to run and Rachel had to approach her cautiously. If Quinn ran away now, she might not ever come back.

“You know what,” Rachel said softly as she took another careful step towards Quinn. She was in an arms reach of her and she saw how tense the muscles in Quinn’s back were. “Quinn,” she continued as she reached a tentative hand out and hovered it over the other girls’ shoulder, “please, can we just…talk?”

Quinn turned her head so that Rachel could at least see her profile. Her jaw was clenched in a way that looked painful and her eyes stared down at the cement. Her wet hair was plastered to the side of her face and Rachel wanted to push it behind her ear. Quinn didn’t say anything, just stood there and stared at that same spot of cement like it would tell her what the answer to this whole situation was. 

Rachel, for once in her life, is at a loss for what to say. She feels like every word out of her mouth is just a bomb waiting to explode and send Quinn running for the hills. She has so much to say, too much, but she knows they’re all the wrong things and that’s the one thing she can’t afford right now.

“Quinn,” she breaths out (really because it seems like the only safe thing to say right now) as her hand finally rests on Quinn’s shoulder. Rachel can’t even comprehend it happening until it does, Quinn’s fingers closed around Rachel’s wrist tightly. Apparently touching her was the one thing Rachel didn’t think about as a potential trigger when she put her hand on the other girl’s shoulder. But now that Quinn is facing her, the offending hand clasped tightly between her fingers, Rachel wishes she would have thought about it. 

Quinn’s face is close, and for a moment Rachel thinks that she might kiss her again. Her eyes look…angry, maybe conflicted, but Rachel takes that as passion and passion is never a bad thing.

“We have nothing to talk about,” Quinn says between clenched teeth. She practically throws Rachel’s hand down and turns around once more, storming out of the backyard and down the sidewalk. Rachel watches as Quinn retreats, t-shirt clinging to her back and water still dripping down her body.

For a moment, Rachel thinks that she should go after her. Then she realizes what a moot point it would be only because she has no idea what to do in this situation.

Quinn kissed her.

Quinn _Fabray_ kissed her. 

Twice.

And almost a third time.

It’s the kind of thing that she had been dreaming about since their Freshman year. Although, admittedly, it ended with more kissing and not an epic storm off. Butterflies fluttered up in her stomach as she thought about how the other girl’s lips had felt pressed against her own. It was a feeling she had never felt with Finn or Puck of Jesse. She hadn’t not enjoyed kissing them (except maybe Finn) but it had always been more about filling some inane teenage need to be desirable. To be able to say you’ve actually made out with multiple people and they didn’t run away screaming.

After looking towards the corner that Quinn had disappeared where she turned down the street for goodness knows how long, Rachel got some of her sense back and turned away. She walked towards the lounge chairs, albeit a little shakily, and picked up a towel. She dried herself off and stepping into the house, ignoring her Daddy’s quizzical look as she rushed up the stairs to her room.

It was then it dawned on her that maybe her fathers had seen the interaction between her and Quinn. Though that, she quickly realized, was unlikely since neither of them were bombarding her with the inevitable questions that would come with having seen their daughter being kissed in the pool by a cheerleader. Former cheerleader, but still.

The door to her room was shut as soon as she walked past the threshold and Rachel practically lunged for her phone that was still sitting on her bed. She woke it up, her heart falling a little when there were no messages on it aside from a couple from Finn (all with horrible spelling errors). A few months ago, a text from Finn would have been enough to make her heart leap to her throat. But now it just made her frown because she much rather that Quinn was messaging her. Although given that she had only left maybe ten minutes ago, Rachel knew there was no way she was even home yet. Rachel considered calling Quinn for a moment but realized she would, at most, be ignored. It was like pulling teeth trying to get Quinn to talk about anything, forget trying to get her to talk about something with substance.

Rachel rolled over on her back and stared up at the ceiling for a moment, a smile spreading over her face as she thought about the kiss. She brings up her hand to brush her fingers over her lips lightly. The touch is almost as light as the first kiss and definitely not as light as the second. Her body felt warm just thinking about how close Quinn was to her at the time of the kiss. They had to have been not more then an inch apart. Quinn had actually been gripping her wrists, It was almost intimate. Almost. 

A knock at her door made Rachel jump, propping herself up on her elbows she looked over at her Dad standing in the doorway.

“Hey, sweetheart,” he looked around the room for a moment, “Where’d Quinn go?”

“She had to leave,” Rachel said simply. Her Dad looked at her a little suspiciously and took another look around the room.

“Is there a reason that you’re laying on her bed with a wet bathing suit?”

Rachel blushed and looked down at herself. She had thrown herself on the bed without any real thought other then finding out if Quinn had tried to contact her in any way. She shook her head and stood up from the bed, going to her pajama drawer and pulling out some sweats and a tshirt. 

“Okay, well dinner’s ready so come down after you change,” Leroy said giving her one last look before walking down the stairs. She made sure that her phone was in her pocket and found herself checking it over and over again through the night. During the movie her father’s wanted to watch (Rachel was far too distracted to even comprehend what the film was about) her phone buzzed and Rachel felt her heart almost burst with happiness. She couldn’t help the pout when it was just Kurt. 

Slipping her phone back into her pocket, Rachel looked up to see both of her father’s looking at her strangely. She smiled at them (she didn’t take all those acting classes for nothing) and looked back towards the screen. Even if she was far from paying attention.

“Anything wrong, sweetheart?” Hiram asked from the other side of the couch.

“Nope,” Rachel said with another award winning smile, not even looking away from the screen. She truly didn’t want her father’s asking her about her day and didn’t want them asking about Quinn, of all people. Rachel had always been very open with her fathers, telling them probably more then they wanted to know about her life. They were always very intuitive when it came to their daughter, she had no doubt that they knew something was up. 

They looked at each other, Rachel watching them carefully out of her peripherals, before going back to the movie. She breathed a sigh of relief and as soon as the movie was over she gave her fathers a quick kiss goodnight before running back up to her room. She pulled her phone out and reread her and Quinn’s text exchanges from the beginning of the summer. She combed through and looked for any hint or clue as to what she should say now, or if she should say anything. All she knew was that the radio silence was driving her insane. She opened up the screen to write a new message to Quinn, her fingers hovered over the digital keyboard as she racked her brain for the right words.

_Can we talk?_

She left the message unsent for at least ten minutes, just staring at in and running over all of Quinn’s possible responses in her mind. She bit her lip, nerves bundling in her stomach before she finally got the nerve to hit send. Quinn’s one word response came almost immediately and Rachel pressed her face into her pillow in frustration.

__


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone. I'm so so sorry it's taken so long to update. There's been a lot of change in my life with work and life, I guess it all caught up with me. I promise I'm not abandoning this story! I'll keep going until it's done. Even if it takes forever.

Chapter 7

On the third day of not hearing from Quinn, Rachel was sure she would go insane. Her phone, which she usually tried to not keep on her at all times like most teenagers, remains somewhere on her persons for the whole day. She didn’t want to chance that she might miss a call or message from Quinn. But apparently that’s not a problem because Quinn doesn’t try to contact her in those three days. 

She’s on edge. And that in itself is an understatement. 

Every little buzz from her phone sends her stomach flipping up into her chest, only for it to fall horribly in disappointment when it’s not from Quinn. Her fathers give her odd looks every time she checks her phone but have enough sense not to say anything. All they would get from her would be a well constructed brush off anyways.

She hasn’t tried to contact Quinn since the day of the kiss. Frankly she’s surprised that Quinn even answered her that first time. She feared that if she tried to contact her again there would be no answer and the implications behind that were terrifying. 

That night, she stared up at her ceiling, trying to find a way to sleep. She had tried singing, browsing the internet, breathing exercises, everything. But nothing was making her mind shut off. Every time she closed her eyes she just imagined what it was like when Quinn kissed her. Those short moments that their lips were pressed together were the best of Rachel’s short life, she was convinced. She didn’t think that anything could compare to the feeling. Not even getting up on stage and singing “Don’t Rain on My Parade” to a rightfully enthralled and captivated audience could not compare. 

She thought about Quinn’s face and her eyes and the way she had looked at her before they kissed. It wasn’t necessarily love (although Rachel hoped) but it was something. Something that deserved to be explained. Rachel deserved that at the least. Or so she thought. She had no idea what Quinn had been thinking but she knew that she had kissed her a second time. She could have run away after Rachel kissed her. She could have slapped her and called her a creep. But she didn’t. She stayed and she kissed her back.

Rachel wasn’t even sure what had possessed her, she just knew that she was grabbing a coat and pulled it around her body. Still in her pajamas, Rachel snuck past her father’s bedroom and down the stairs. Her house keys were tucked into her pocket as she closed the front door and picked her bike up from the side of the house. 

The way to Quinn’s house was engrained in Rachel’s mind from the one time that the cheerleader had a party there that Finn insisted she go with him to. The party itself had been a disaster. It was like Rachel had a target on her back as soon as she stepped into the house and Finn did little to help her. He had found his football buddies as soon as he stepped through the door and Rachel was left in the corner taking small sips from a drink. Mostly for appearances. She certainly wasn’t going to be letting herself get intoxicated at a party where she was essentially alone. After Santana had “accidentally” dumped a beer on her about a half hour later, Rachel eventually walked home since Finn was no where to be found. It hadn’t occurred to her at the time that she didn’t see Quinn anywhere at that party. At the time she figured she had just been in the middle of the mass of gyrating teenagers that had gathered in her living room, but knowing the Quinn she had gotten to know this summer, Rachel highly doubted that she was anywhere near that crowd. She was probably huddled in a corner herself, maybe just across the room from Rachel.

It only takes Rachel about fifteen minutes to bike over to Quinn’s house and another ten minutes of standing outside of it to decide if she should even attempt what she’s thinking at this moment. Rachel wheeled her bike over to some bushes and leans it against them. Rachel walks up to the large sprawling house, much larger then her own or any other home that she had been in. It’s intimidating how large the house is. Rachel suspects that her own house could fit into one wing of this one. Which also led her to question how exactly she planned on finding Quinn’s window. She walked around the house twice, something that took a good ten minutes. There are windows all around the house, most of them closed with wooden shutters. It wasn’t until her third start around the house where she noticed a window, open, with pink curtains hanging in the window. 

That had to be Quinn’s window. Something about just told Rachel that the blonde was just on the other side of that window. She looked around for a rock to throw at her window, or rather, through the window but of course the Fabric’s perfectly manicured lawn had no kind of throwable debris on it. Rachel’s eyes landed on the lattice work that went up the side of the house and she had seen enough romantic movies to know that this was a more then viable way to get up the side of the house. 

She pulled on it for a moment and when she deemed it safe enough to climb, she began her slow ascent up the side of the house. When she was about half way up, Rachel began to doubt her life choices. Here she was, Rachel Berry, climbing up the side of a house she didn’t even want to know the value of to find a girl who had kissed her (twice) and then run away without another word to her for the past three days. Not only that, but she wasn’t even sure if this was Quinn’s window she was about to climb into. What if she went all this way to only find Judy Fabray in a nightie and having a night cap? Or worse, Russell Fabray. She shuddered at the thought. 

But she had gotten too far up the side of the house to turn back now. Mostly because she didn’t know how she would get down at this point because she was sure she would fall to her death if she tried to climb down. So she continued up the side of the house until she reached the window sill. Her arms were aching and she made a mental note to add more upper body exercises to her workout routine. 

She peered into the bedroom and noticed a book shelf overflowing with novels and a Cheerios trophy in the corner and she knew that she was in the right place. She looked around the room and saw a head of familiar blonde hair sitting in a chair in the corner, book open in her lap. Rachel couldn’t help the smile that bloomed on her face at just the sight of her. 

The way her brow furrowed in concentration and her lips were pouted as she read…well, Rachel was thinking about how much she loved kissing those lips. Her foot slipped and Rachel squeaked in horror, grasping on to the sill tighter. Quinn’s head whipped towards the window and she jumped up, book falling onto the floor.

“Berry!” she hissed angrily, “What the hell are you doing?”

Rachel blinked at her, from the window. Her knuckled were white from gripping the window sill too tightly and she just peered at the blonde. She definitely wasn’t paying attention to the way her chest heaved in her tank top as she stomped over to the window angrily.

“Are you stalking me now?” Quinn whispered angrily.

“I’m not stalking you,” Rachel said almost stomping her for before she remembered she wasn’t exactly on steady ground. Her blush betrayed her words, however, because what else would she be doing here if she wasn’t stalking Quinn? Stalking was a harsh word though. “I just…came to see you.”

“In the middle of the night?” Quinn insisted, “I knew you were a creeper, Berry, but this is a whole other level.”

“I’m not a creeper!” Rachel said a little too loudly. Quinn shushed her with a quick look over her shoulder at her bedroom door. “You know, Quinn, this would be a lot easier if you just let me in.”

Quinn scoffed. “Why? So you can murder me?”

“I’m not going to murder you!”

“How do I know that? You’re the one that just showed up in my window in the middle of the night. That sounds like a murderer to me.”

Rachel leveled her with a look just as her foot slipped on the lattice again. “Quinn, please. If you don’t let me in I might very well fall and ruin your parent’s perfect lawn with my body.”

Quinn rolled her eyes and jerked her head as a sign for Rachel to finish climbing into the window. The brunette hid her smile of accomplishment as she tried to lift herself into the window, struggling as she went. 

“Some help would be nice,” she gasped out as she tried to pull herself up. Quinn rolled her eyes and grabbed Rachel’s arms, practically pulling her into the window so that Rachel fell on the floor with a dull thud.

“Shh!” Quinn whispered.

“I can’t very well control the volume of my body hitting the floor,” Rachel grumbled as she stood up. She brushed off her front, blushing when she remembered she was still in her pajamas and pulling her coat tighter around her.

Quinn crossed her arms in front of her chest, jaw clenched tightly as she looked at Rachel. But only barely. It was like she was looking just above the brunette so she wouldn’t have to look directly at her. Rachel took the moment to look Quinn over, observing her pajama pants and tank top which-…she wasn’t sure she was wearing a bra under. But that was unimportant at the moment. 

Rachel had to tear her eyes away from Quinn’s chest to look back at the blonde who still found a spot over Rachel’s head far more interesting then her face.

“Why are you here?” Quinn said stiffly.

“You know why I’m here,” Rachel said rolling her shoulders a little bit. It felt like she pulled something climbing up that lattice. Hopefully it didn’t effect her dance.

“No, I don’t. Or else I wouldn’t be asking,” Quinn said pointedly.

Rachel rolled her eyes, “Well, since I guess we’re going to be dense about it…I’m here about the-…the kiss.”

Quinn visibly tensed and she turned on her heels to stalk over to her bed. She sat down on it and pretended like she was getting into bed. “Goodnight, Rachel,” I’ll see you later. Try not to fall on your way down the window.”

“Quinn!” Rachel said a little too loudly before looking over towards the door, “I just want to talk. You’re being ridiculous.”

“Ha!” Quinn said without humor as she slid under the covers, still sitting up. “That’s some talk from someone who literally climbed up my window in the middle of the night to spy on me.”

“I wasn’t spy-“ Rachel rolled her eyes, “We need to talk.”

Quinn still protested, “We don’t need to do anything. Let’s just forget about it.”

Rachel walked over to the bed and sat delicately on the edge of the mattress. “What if I don’t want to?” she said quietly as she played with the hem of her jacket.

“Then you’re shit out of luck,” Quinn mumbled.

“Language!” Rachel hissed at the blonde, trying to level her with a look. Quinn rolled her eyes but Rachel swore she saw a hint of a smile on her face. 

Rachel just looked at Quinn for a moment as Quinn looked anywhere but at her. Rachel didn’t expect this to be easy, but she certainly didn’t expect it to be this hard either. Though she wasn’t sure why when she had spent the better part of a month painfully extracting every word out of Quinn’s mouth that she could. As if getting her to talk about anything remotely important would result in a talkative Quinn.

With a huff, Rachel walked over to the other side of the bed and sat next to Quinn, tucking her legs up under her. She shrugged off her coat and draped it neatly over the end of the bed before settling back against the pillows.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Quinn asked evenly.

Rachel just shrugged, “If you won’t talk I might as well relax too. I’m not about to climb back down the side of your home in the dark.”

“You climbed up it, what’s the big deal about climbing down?” Quinn asked incredulously.

“If I fall and break something, my Broadway career would be over before it even started. And I’m sure you don’t want that to happen.”

Quinn rolled her eyes but didn’t answer, instead picking up a book from her nightstand and beginning to read. Rachel continued to move herself up on the bed to get comfortable, really just working to move until her arm was barely touching Quinn’s both of them looking somewhere other then at each other.

After a few moments of looking around Quinn’s room, committing the whole thing to memory, Rachel pulled out her phone and typed a message to Quinn.

_We should talk._

Rachel hit send and looked indifferent when Quinn’s phone buzzed on the nightstand. The blonde reached for it without looking, her eyes still on her book and she finally pulled herself away to check the message. She read it, surprise barely passing over her face before closing out her messages and returning to her book. Rachel looked at her, offense clear on her features and typed another message.

_Quinn, don’t ignore me._

Ignored.

_Quinn! We need to talk._

Still ignored.

_Stop acting so immature. Let’s talk like adults._

Quinn made a show of shutting off her phone and set it back on her nightstand.

“What was that for?” Rachel asked crossing her arms over her chest.

“You shouldn’t be on your phone before you want to go to bed. It throws off your sleep cycle,” Quinn said casually, not bothering to leave her book for Rachel. The brunette rolled her eyes and turned so her back was facing Quinn, laying down on the pillow.

“Fine, if you want to be immature then I guess we’ll just sleep tonight.”

“Good.”

Rachel didn’t realize how tired she actually was until her head hit the pillow the smelled so much like Quinn it made her dizzy. Her eyes drooped closed and she felt sleep taking her sooner then she expected. But before she drifted off, she heard a quite, “Night, Rach.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the love! It really keeps me inspired. I love all the suggestions and thoughts you guys have. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Rachel wasn’t sure what woke her up. It was probably her own internal clock that woke her up promptly at six A.M., but it could have been Mr. Fabray yelling loudly across the hall. It took Rachel a moment to realize that she was not in her bed. At first her fight or flight instinct kicked in and she wondered who had kidnapped her and how she could best fight her way out of whatever very comfortable bed her kidnappers had put her in for the night. After a few moments of her realizing that she was not actually kidnapped and her heart rate slowed down, she remembered climbing into Quinn Fabric’s window the night before.

She would be embarrassed if she wasn’t certain it was the only way to get Quinn to talk to her.

Listening to the yelling across the hall, it sounded like Russel Fabray was talking to a client oversees somewhere and there was a serious language barrier. She wondered if anyone had suggested he try a translation program or a simple language program to learn key phrases in whatever language he was struggling with. There was a knock at the door and Rachel sat up, only to have two hands pull her back down onto the bed and throw the blanket over her head.

“Quinnie,” came Judy Fabray’s voice from the other side of the door, “Breakfast is ready if you want to come down.”

“I’m not hungry, Mom,” Quinn said sleepily. Rachel noted the way her body shivered in response to the blonde’s more gravely voice and decided she’d think about why that happened later. It wasn’t something she wanted to think about now. Especially with Quinn holding her head under the blanket.

Rachel did her best to push the blanket off of her face and looked at Quinn. “You know, breakfast is an important-“

Her rant about the importance of breakfast was cut off when Quinn clapped a hand over Rachel’s mouth and pulled the blanket back over her head.

“Quinnie…what’s that?” Judy asked.

“It was my phone, I was playing a video,” Quinn said, “It’s one of those bloggers with the annoying voice.”

Rachel huffed in protest but Judy seemed to accept that as an excuse. “Oh, okay,” she said, “Well just come down whenever you want then. Are you going to be taking off again?”

Rachel reflected on how odd it was that mother and daughter were having this conversation with a door between them and made a note to ask Quinn about it later. Her fathers would have burst in the door without even knocking.

“I don’t know, maybe,” Quinn said in the moody, vague way all teenagers tended to talk when parents were asking questions.

There was a long pause on the other side of the door and Rachel thought Judy had left for a moment before her voice came back a little meeker. “You’re not…going over to those Berry’s house, are you? Mary said she saw you over that way the other day.” Rachel bristled, ears straining harder to hear every word. “You know how your father feels about them, Quinn. It wouldn’t be good if he found out you were spending time with those fa-“

“I get it, Mom,” Quinn said quickly, “I’m not hanging out over there.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

It sounded like heels walking away from Quinn’s room and Rachel wondered if she was actually wearing heels at six in the morning. Most importantly, her blood felt chilled by the things she had just heard. Were these really the type of things that Quinn heard all the time? No wonder Quinn had tortured her all through school. Rachel pushed the blanket off of her head and looked up at Quinn who was staring blankly at the door. The smaller girl sat up and scooted a little closer to Quinn.

“Can we talk now?” she whispered a little too eagerly, “About the kiss?”

Quinn’s head jerked towards her and she gave Rachel a cold look before swinging her legs out of bed and stalking towards the bathroom.

“Quinn!”

The blonde turned and shushed Rachel, wide eyes darting towards the door again. “Are you dense? They can’t know that you’re here.”

“Why? Because I’m a Berry?” Rachel asked crossing her arms over her chest.

“Among other things.”

“You know, Quinn, I really hope you don’t share the same sentiments about the LGBT community as your parents. Especially even that you’re a member as well-“

“I am not a member of anything, Berry, do you hear me?” Quinn said, her voice dangerously low. “And if you tell anyone otherwise…”

Her voice trailed off and Rachel just fixed her with a hard glare. “Please. As if anyone would believe me if I told them that Quinn Fabray kissed me in my pool. Twice.”

Quinn’s face tried to remain stoic but the blush creeping up her neck betrayed her. “I’m going to get dressed, Berry. Don’t make a noise and don’t leave the room.”

Rachel rolled her eyes in her own form of silent protest, but remained put. When Quinn grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom, she looked around the room to try and get a better sense of Quinn. There was a large bookcase in the corner that was overflowing with books, despite it’s size. The room was painted a light pink and Rachel imagined a little Quinn picking out the color for her room with excitement. There were shelves stuffed with trophies, probably from cheerleading, and pictures of Quinn with the Cheerios and an older girl who Rachel assumed was her sister. She was almost the spitting image of Quinn, just with a different nose and darker eyes. Rachel remembered her mentioning a sister once but not much more then that. 

After a couple more moments, Quinn came out of the restroom fully dressed and Rachel made a point not to glance down at her legs. For too long. 

“How old is your sister?” Rachel asked instead.

Quinn looked confused for a moment but then shrugged, “Twenty-one. Why?”

“Where does she live?”

“She’s still in school. Why do you care?”

“I just want to know more about you, Quinn,” Rachel insisted as she swung her own legs out of bed. 

“You’re not asking about me, you’re asking about my sister. So clearly you want to know more about my sister.”

Rachel rolled her eyes but bit her tongue as Quinn tossed her pajamas in the general direction of the hamper. Her eyes followed the clothes as they landed a foot away from the hamper in a separate pile of other poorly tossed clothes. The brunette blinked at the pile for a moment as Quinn opened the window and muttered something about a fire ladder.

“Quinn,” Rachel said breezily, “don’t you want to…you know…put your clothes in the hamper?”

“I did,” she said dismissively as she dropped to her knees and pulled a small box out from under the bed.

Rachel bit her lip and looked at the pile as if it was offending her in some way. “I mean…I see that you attempted to put them away. But they didn’t quite make it.”

Quinn sighed as she pulled a jumble of metal from the box and hung her upper half out the window away. “It’s fine.”

This was not something Rachel was accustomed too. Why would Quinn let her dirty clothes pile up besides the hamper instead of just putting them in the hamper? Did she have no sense of order? She began to look around the room and noticed other things out of place. Books on the floor, clothes strewn about. It wasn’t necessarily dirty, but it was certainly messy. How did Quinn live like this? How was a girl who’s pony tails were always perfectly tight and straight on top of her head so messy at home?

Rachel looked over to where Quinn was cursing and muttering to herself as she assembled something outside the window. She certainly wasn’t paying attention, so Rachel walked over to the clothes pile and began to put the clothes in the hamper. She picked up her pajamas and clothes from the day before, pausing briefly when her fingers brushed over a silky material. She picked it up and a blush rose over the collar of her pajamas when she realized what it was. Somehow, Rachel had managed to pick up Quinn’s underwear in the pile of discarded clothes.

“Berry!”

Rachel jumped and practically threw the underwear into the hamper, spinning to face the blonde. She looked annoyed with her general antics, so Rachel hoped Quinn didn’t notice her holding her dirty underwear just moments before.

“What the hell are you doing?” Quinn hissed, “Get out of the window before my mom comes back. I’ll meet you outside the gate.”

“Surely you don’t expect me to crawl out the window, do you?” Rachel asked crossing her arms and hoping the blush would go down.

“I put a fire escape ladder out the window. You’ll be fine,” Quinn said with a roll of her eyes as she gestured towards the window. Rachel stomped towards the open window, upset there were no more excuses for her to make about leaving Quinn.

“How will I know you’ll meet me out there? What if you leave me out there all day?” Rachel asked when she was in front of Quinn.

Quinn just gave Rachel a look. “I promise, okay?”

Rachel beamed at the blonde with a nod and swung one leg out the window, finding footing on the metal rung go the ladder before slowly climbing down the side of the house. Part of her hoped Quinn left the ladder up so that she could use it next time she needed to corner Quinn in her room. The ladder ended just a couple of feet short of the ground and Rachel found herself tumbling onto the perfectly manicured grass. At least her lack of grace went unnoticed by Quinn. She hurried to the outside of the gate and waited for Quinn there. She glanced down at her pajamas and wished she had thought to bring another pair of clothes with her the night before. Despite the heat, she pulled her coat tighter around her in an attempt to hide her pajamas. After a few minutes, the sound of the front door opening brought Rachel from her thoughts and she looked up to see Quinn walking towards her. She couldn’t help the way her face lit up when she saw the blonde approach. Quinn didn’t even look at her, just turned sharply at the gate in the direction of Rachel’s house as the brunette jogged after her.

She fell in step besides the other girl and walked in silence for a few moments before the words finally burst out of her throat.

“So can we talk now?” Rachel asked in a breath.

Quinn scoffed and said flatly, “I was wondering if some miracle had happened and you’d learned how to be quiet. But I guess I can’t be that lucky.”

“Don’t be rude, Quinn, I just want to talk.”

“Yes, well, good for you.”

Rachel bit her tongue in an attempt not to speak again with the sole purpose of proving Quinn wrong. They made it back to Rachel’s house and she led Quinn into the front door. 

“Rachel?!”

She froze at the sound of her father’s voice, anger very much apparent. Her father ran into the foyer, his wire glasses sliding off of the bridge of his nose. His usually pale skin was flushed red and hair a mess.

“Rachel Barbara Berry, where in Liza’s name have you been?” Hiram insisted as he walked up the Rachel and held her by the shoulders. He looked her over and checked all over as if looking for some sort of injury. “When you didn’t wake us up with your elliptical at some god awful hour, we just assumed you became a normal teenager and decided to sleep in. So imagine our horror when we checked up on you for breakfast and you weren’t there! We thought you’d been kidnapped-“

“Correction, you thought she’d been kidnapped,” Hiram said walking in from the kitchen, “I thought she’d snuck out like a normal teenager and look, she did.”

“You could have died!” Leroy insisted.

“Leroy,” Hiram said putting a calming hand on his husbands shoulder, “calm down.”

“I will not calm down!” the balding man said. Hiram managed to putt his husband away from Rachel who was sure she’d never been more embarrassed in her life. She could feel Quinn standing behind her and she pulled her coat tight against her body.

“Dad, Daddy, please, can we just go up to my room?”

Leroy blinked at her and noticed Quinn for the first time, more anger flashing across his face. “It’s because of you that my baby is out running around the town? See, Hiram? I knew this little crush was bad news.”

Rachel frowned at her father and opened her mouth to say something, but thankfully her Daddy spoke up before she got yourself in even more trouble. “Girls, go upstairs while I talk to Mr. Berry, please,” Leroy said with a calm smile, “Rachel, you’re grounded until further notice.”

She began to protest, but her mouth snapped shut when her Daddy threw her a look and she knew she needed to stay quiet. She was in enough trouble as it was, she certainly didn’t need to make it worse for herself. Without a thought, she grabbed Quinn’s hand and dragged her up the stairs to her room. Her ears burned with embarrassment and anger as she paced across the carpet of her room, arms tight at her sides.

“I cannot believe my Dad,” Rachel seethed as Quinn calmly sat on her bed, “For him to be so- He’s such a-!” She punctuated her sentence with a scream of frustration and Quinn just arched an eyebrow at her. Rachel threw off her coat angrily, suddenly feeling over heated. She stomped over to her dresser and pulled out her bathing suit. “We’re going swimming!”

“Rachel, you’re grounded,” Quinn reminded her just before Rachel slammed the door to her bathroom. She changed quickly, internally coming up with arguments for her father as to why she shouldn’t be grounded. As a perfectly good teenager with not a single mark to her name, there was no reason she should be grounded. It was preposterous.

Once she was fully dressed in her swimsuit, Rachel came out of the bathroom to find Quinn laying on her bed and flipping through a book. She wasn’t sure where it had come from…had Quinn brought it with her?

“While you were in there muttering to yourself like a crazy person, your Dad came in and said you can’t go to the pool today,” Quinn said nonchalantly, not even looking up from the book.

Rachel’s temper flared again. “Was it Dad or Daddy?”

Quinn looked up at the ceiling for a moment before looking over at Rachel. “How do I tell?”

“Tell what?”

“Which one is Dad and which one is Daddy?”

“Dad is Hiram and Daddy is Leroy!” Rachel said with a frown.

“I’m still at a loss,” Quinn said with a shrug.

“Quinn! How long have you been hanging out here and you don’t know which is my Dad and which is my Daddy?”

“Please, just tell me, Rach.”

Rachel sighed as if it were the most difficult in the thing for her to do before explaining. “Daddy is taller. Dad is the short Jewish man.”

“Then it was your Daddy that said it. Leroy,” Quinn said going back to the book. One hand absently played with the hem of her shorts as she continued to read. Rachel threw herself dramatically onto the bed, face down. The blonde didn’t even react, just went on reading her book. After a few minutes of Rachel’s silent stewing, she turned her head and looked at Quinn who was a lot closer then she expected. She blushed lightly and adjusted herself to prop her head up on her elbow.

“Your Daddy is nice,” Quinn commented softly, “he talked to me a little bit.”

“He is nice. To other people,” Rachel said with a pout.

Quinn shrugged, “You’re lucky. My dad would never be that nice to you.” Clouds formed in Quinn’s eyes and even though she was looking at the book, Rachel was sure she wasn’t reading. “He’s hardly that nice to me.”

Rachel blinked up at her for a moment, all thoughts of her fathers and their unfair treatment leaving her mind for just a moment. Without thinking, Rachel reached for Quinn’s hand that was playing with the hem of her shorts and covered it with her own. She felt Quinn tense, but she didn’t pull away. Rachel counted it as a small victory. She squeezed Quinn’s hand briefly and tried to subtly scoot a little closer to her.

“Quinn, do you believe what…what your parents say about hanging out with me?” she asked softly.

The blonde thought for a moment and shook her head. “I don't think you’re a bad person. Or your dads. I think the stuff my father says is…it’s not fair.”

Rachel just nodded and ran her thumb over Quinn’s knuckles. “It’s not fair. And it’s wrong. I know you may not want to hear this from me about your father, but the things he says about the LGBT community are wrong. And not fair to anyone. Including you.” Quinn’s hand tried to jerk out of Rachel’s grasp but she held on tightly. “I’m not saying you’re gay, Quinn,” Rachel said easily, “I’m just saying, it’s not fair to you as someone who’s friends with members of the LGBT community. Your membership to whatever side withstanding.”  
Quinn let out a shaky sigh and shook her head. “I can’t be…I can’t be gay, Rachel,” Quinn breathed out, “I just…I can’t.”

“Do you feel…like you might be? Like you might have feelings for girls?” Rachel asked as unbiased as possible, even if the question was asked a little selfishly. She was focused on Quinn and her emotional state right now. She’d worry about her own later.

The cheerleader stared at the ceiling for a moment, eyes blinking away tears. Some caught on her long lashes and caught the light wonderfully. Rachel couldn't look away if she wanted. “Maybe. I mean…yes. I think so,” Quinn admitted quietly, “But I can’t be gay, Rach. I can’t. If they found out-“

Quinn didn’t need to finish her sentence. Rachel knew exactly what would happen if Quinn’s parents found out she had feelings for a girl. Despite the way her heart fluttered with happiness and hope, she knew now was not the time to celebrate.

“I know it may not be too much of a comfort, but I want you to know that you can be whoever you want here,” Rachel said. Quinn nodded and sniffled, wiping away a tear that had fallen down her cheek. She turned to face Rachel so that they were both laying on their sides and facing each other. Their fingers laced together and when hazel eyes locked with brown, Rachel couldn’t look away.

“Thank you,” Quinn whispered. She hesitated for a moment before leaning in and kissing Rachel softly. It was a barely there kiss and the only reason Rachel even realized she was being kissed was Quinn’s breath on her face. Her heart fluttered and took flight, even as Quinn pulled away. Rachel couldn’t keep the large smile off of her face, no matter how hard she tried. Her smile only grew when she saw Quinn was smiling too.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for the lovely notes! I'm glad you're enjoying this little journey that Rachel and Quinn are going on. The more I write out from my outline, the more I get excited (and sad) for them. It's going to be an interesting ride for them.

Rachel noticed a few things in the next half hour or so of just laying next to Quinn and staring at her.  First was, that when Quinn's nerves were showing she would play with Rachel's fingers.  She would have to lace their fingers back together and squeeze Quinn's hand to get her attention back.  Second, Quinn's eyes would gloss over as she ranted and slowly start to rake down Rachel's body.  Rachel, noticing, would stop her rant and Quinn's eyes would immediately snap back up to hers with a light blush.  She decided to ignore this part, mostly because she knew that Quinn would be terribly embarrassed and maybe didn't even notice herself.  Plus she couldn't say she was particularly offended by the attention.  Her strict elliptical routine was in place for a reason.

The last thing Rachel noticed, and possibly the best, was that Quinn's lips were so soft.  Like two pillows.  Of sugar.  Sugar pillows.  Something of that sort, Rachel wasn't the best at articulating when she was more focused on Quinn's lips and how she'd get to kiss them again.  Quinn had been very stingy in her kisses, in Rachel's opinion.  She had gotten the one kiss at the end of their little talk and that was it.  Their hands were still laced together and Rachel couldn't complain about that, but they could be kissing and they weren't.  That seemed like a tragedy in itself.

She scooted a little closer to Quinn as subtly as possible in hopes she wouldn't notice.  Rachel had asked her about the book she was currently reading and Quinn seemed very engrossed in telling her what was happening.  It was probably the most that Quinn had talked on her own for....well since they started hanging out.  Rachel almost felt bad that maybe she didn't retain as much information as she should have, but how was she supposed to pay attention when Quinn's lips were so close and she hadn't kissed her in at least fifteen minutes.  At least.

Rachel nodded along as Quinn spoke and took the blonde's hand that was laced together and placed it on her hip.  Quinn stopped mid sentence, her hand tightening on Rachel's hip.

"Rach," Quinn said hoarsely, her body stiff, "What are you doing?"

"Nothing," Rachel said with a shrug as she scooted a little closer to Quinn.  Her now free hand snaked over the the other girl's hip as she tried to remain nonchalant.

"Rachel," Quinn continued, "you're...practically naked."

"I'm in a bathing suit."

"A bikini," Quinn pointed out, "maybe you should put like...pants on or something."

Rachel tried not to laugh, her cheeks tinting. She would feel bad but she realized that Quinn's hand was still on her hip.  "Why?"

"Don't be cheeky," the blonde muttered as her own cheeks got redder by the second.

"I'm not trying to be cheeky, I'm just asking a question," Rachel said innocently, "continue talking about your book."

Quinn sighed and began to absently play with the tie on the side of Rachel's swimsuit. "Well now I don't remember where I was."

"Did I distract you?" Rachel asked with a small smile.  The blonde didn't even answer, just stilled her hand when she realized she was playing with the tie.  Rachel began to rub small circles on Quinn's hip with her thumb.  "You don't remember what you were saying at all?"  Quinn just glared at her.  "You know, I know something that helps concentration."

Quinn raised an eyebrow at her and Rachel could see a hint of a smile on her face.  "And what's that?"

"More kisses," Rachel said matter of factly.

"You're ridiculous," Quinn said, "That does not help anyone concentrate."

"Well I beg to differ.  It's at least worth a try."

"Oh you think so?" Quinn said flatly.

Rachel nodded enthusiastically and scooted even closer to the other girl until their knees bumped awkwardly together.  Her grip on Quinn's hip got even tighter and she let out a soft sigh.  She could feel Quinn's fingers tapping aimlessly on her hip and she moved her head so they shared the same pillow.  Her eyes darted down to Quinn's lips a little hesitantly before leaving forward and kissing her softly.

Quinn stiffened at first but then melted into the kiss. Rachel’s heart soared as she sighed against the blonde’s lips, the gap between their bodies finally closed. She wasn’t sure who had closed it but she truly didn’t care. Their lips moved together slowly, hesitance clear in Quinn’s movements. Her hand moved from Rachel’s hip to the small of her back and pulled her even closer as her kisses got more confident. Rachel felt her grip tighten on Quinn’s hip as she tried to keep her wandering hands respectful. She didn’t know what kind of touches would make Quinn put the breaks other activities and she certainly wasn’t going to risk that happening right now. 

This was the longest kiss they had ever shared, not that Rachel was counting. But it was easily forty-three seconds longer then their longest kiss. And counting. She would be more then okay with going for some sort of record as long as it involved Quinn’s lips against her own. Rachel felt like she was on cloud nine, like all her dreams were coming true in this moment. Maybe that was a little dramatic given the fact that she certainly hadn’t achieved her Broadway dreams yet, but she was certain it was only a matter of time for that. Quinn, in her mind, had always been more uncertain then Broadway.

As much as Rachel was enjoying the slow and sweet way their lips moved together, patience had never been a virtue that she possessed. As soon as she got a taste of one thing, she wanted more. And right now, the one thing she wanted more of was Quinn. She deepened their kisses, lips pressed hard together. She felt Quinn’s breath hitch and her nails dig lightly into the tan skin of her back. For a second she thought that Quinn might pull away, but was more then pleasantly surprised when she returned the kisses with equal fervor. 

In a moment of confidence, Rachel let her tongue stroke Quinn’s lower lip. The noise that came from Quinn’s throat in that moment made Rachel grip onto the other girl’s hip in a way that she was sure had to be a little painful. But Quinn didn’t seem to mind. She leaned further into Rachel until she was partially on her back with Quinn over her. Rachel held Quinn’s face in her hands as their tongues tangled together. The new sensation made the smaller girl whimper and clench her legs together in a vain attempt to ignore the tingling between her legs. Their hips were still ver much apart, but Rachel began to regret not putting on some clothes over her bikini like Quinn had requested earlier. She could feel every way that Quinn’s body was pressed against hers. Everything.

For example, Quinn's shirt had ridden up a little to expose her belly and Rachel could tell because the warmth of pale skin pressed against her own was almost too much to handle. She should pull away, take a second to cool down…but that was the last thing Rachel wanted to do with now. She was far too into this whole kissing thing. 

There was an unexpected knock at the door and Quinn practically sprang off of her, rolling onto her back and as far away from Rachel as possible. Rachel laid in the same position, dazed and still ridiculously turned on by the intense kissing that had been happening. She looked over to the door just as her Daddy opened the door and looked between the two girls.

“Hello, girls, you doing okay?” Leroy asked with a smile. Rachel just nodded, unsure if her words could even work at this moment with the way her heart was beating out of her chest and how her lips almost ached for Quinn. She turned to see if Quinn looked as effected as her and was slightly offended to see that Quinn looked perfectly fine. Except for the slight redness to her lips, she looked as cool and collected as ever. It was like she had just slipped some sort of mask on in a matter of seconds. At least, Rachel hoped that was it. “Good! Quinn, I just wanted you to know that you're more then welcome here today, but as soon as you leave Rachel’s not allowed to have anymore friends over for the week.”

“What?” Rachel practically shrieked as she sat straight up on the bed, “Why?”

“You’re grounded, remember?” Leroy said with a small frown, “No friends over and no leaving the house.” Rachel sighed dramatically and flopped back down onto the bed. “Good to know you understand, pumpkin.”

Leroy shut the door behind him again as he left and Rachel let out a particularly long sigh. Quinn began to sit up from the bed, swinging her legs off the side when Rachel’s hand gripped her wrist. “Where are you going?”

“Home,” Quinn said with a shrug, “you’re grounded.”

Rachel shook her head, “My Daddy said that you can stay today, you just aren’t allowed back after you leave. So you know what that means?”

“What?”

“You never leave. There’s a loophole. He said once you leave you can’t come back for the rest of the week. If you stay for the whole week and never leave, then technically I’m not breaking the rules of my grounding,” Rachel said, proud of herself finding a way around the new rule, “Secondly, why don’t you want to keep kissing?”

“Who said I didn’t?” Quinn asked with a blush.

“You’re in such a hurry to leave,” Rachel said, her hand still on Quinn’s wrist, “I know it’s not because I’m not good at kissing. I’ve been told that I’m very good at it as I expected. I try to be above average at everything I do.”

Something unfamiliar flashed in Quinn’s eyes. “Who told you that?”

“Other people I’ve kissed,” Rachel said with a small smile, “Why? Jealous?”

Quinn scoffed, “Please.”

Rachel just shrugged and sat up on her knees to crawl closer to Quinn. “Let’s just keep kissing, then you never have to leave.”

“I’m sure your fathers would love that,” Quinn quipped sarcastically, but didn’t get up from the bed. Rachel crawled until she was kneeling besides her on the mattress, Quinn very focused on something straight ahead. She leaned into the blonde, her chest pressing to her upper arm as she looped her arms around Quinn’s neck. The blonde made a small strangled type sound but Rachel ignored her and kissed her cheek. Quinn’s eyes fluttered closed and Rachel took it as a good sign, continuing to press soft kisses along her jaw and up to the shell of her ear. “Rachel,” Quinn gasped out, “please, c-cant you…can you put a shirt on? Or something?”

Rachel had half a mind to be offended, but she looked down at herself and saw her hardly covered breasts pressed right against Quinn’s bare arm. She also saw the way Quinn’s hands were white knuckling the bed spread. With a blush, Rachel stood up from the bed and got a t-shirt from her drawer. She slipped it on and shuffled back over to Quinn whose eyes were on her the whole time.

“Better?” Rachel asked, pulling on the hem of the t-shirt that landed about mid-thigh. 

“Hardly,” Quinn whispered, her eyes on Rachel’s legs as the smaller girl approached. Quinn’s response to her was definitely a boost to Rachel’s ego and she may had added an extra sway in her step as she wedged her body between Quinn’s legs. She rested her arms around Quinn’s neck again, enjoying the height difference.

“Is this what it’s like to be tall?” Rachel asked as she placed a playful kiss on Quinn’s forehead. Quinn was still gripping the bedspread tightly as she looked up at Rachel. 

“I should go,” she said softly. 

Rachel pouted and resisted the urge to stomp her foot. “Why? I put on a t-shirt for you and everything.”

“Because I want to keep kissing you,” Quinn mumbled, rolling her eyes at the look of pure delight that crossed Rachel’s face with her confession, “I want to keep kissing you and-…we should just let it cool off a little.”

Rachel’s pout only got bigger as she pressed her body closer to Quinn’s. The other girl sighed and placed a soft kiss on Rachel’s lips to get rid of the pout, instantly turning it into a smile. “Fine, you can go,” Rachel said, “But can you do me a favor first?”

“What’s that?” Quinn asked with a smile.

“Pretend like you actually want to hold me,” Rachel said grabbing Quinn’s arms and yanking them up so her hands were on her waist. She smiled widely and threw her arms around Quinn’s neck again. “Much better.”

A blush started on Quinn’s neck and Rachel kissed the tip of her nose. “Can I go now?” Quinn asked, almost as if it pained her, “I’ll call you, I promise. But if you don’t let me go then I may never leave.” Rachel nodded and kissed her once more on the lips before disentangling them from each other, taking a step back. Quinn let out a shaky breath and stood up slowly, smoothing her hands over the front of her thighs. They stood there for a moment just looking at each other. Rachel rocked forward on the balls of her feet and resisted the urge to close the distance between them again.

Quinn pulled her bottom lip between perfect teeth and Rachel played with the hem of her shirt. “Okay, um…I’ll see you later,” Rachel said softly.

“In a week,” Quinn reminded her with the hint of a smirk.

Rachel frowned at her and turned on her heels, “I’ll walk you out.”

“Now you’re practically pushing me out,” Quinn said, “A minute ago you were practically begging me to stay.”

“I was doing no such thing,” Rachel said flipping her hair over her shoulder as she walked out the door of her bedroom, Quinn close behind. She went down the stairs, making sure to sway her hips a little more then necessary as she went. Walking Quinn to the front door, she stood in front of it for a moment as Quinn looked down at her with a perplexed expression.

“Are you going to keep me captive here?” Quinn asked, looking over her shoulder every few seconds.

“What are you on the look out for, Quinn?” Rachel said, ignoring her question.

“Your dads,” Quinn muttered, looking over her shoulder yet again. Rachel reached out for Quinn’s hands and squeezed them gently. 

“You have no reason to be afraid of them,” Rachel insisted, “But I should let you go as to not incur their wrath even more.”

“See, even you’re afraid of them,” Quinn whispered like she was apart of some sort of conspiracy.

Rachel leaned up and placed a soft kiss on Quinn’s lips. “Goodbye, you ridiculous girl.”

Quinn scoffed, “You’re ridiculous.”

Reluctantly, Rachel opened up the door for Quinn who quickly stepped outside as if being outside the threshold of the Berry’s house protected her from the Berry men. “Bye, Rach,” Quinn said quietly, a small smile on her face.

Rachel breamed at the new nickname and threw her arms around Quinn’s neck, “Rach?”

The blonde kept her arms firmly at her side and shifted uncomfortably. “Your dads-“

“Are currently very engrossed in an episode of some television show I’m not allowed to watch because of the violence.”

“You’re not allowed to watch certain shows?” Quinn said with a teasing quirk of her lips.

Rachel just ignored her. “Rach?”

“Yeah? What about it? It’s your name,” Quinn said grumpily.

“Well now I need a nickname for you,” Rachel said momentarily disengaging herself from Quinn to make the blonde put her hands on her waist.

“Rachel, your fathers,” Quinn strained.

“Are busy. Now, back to my nickname for you,” the smaller girl said as she returned her arms to around Quinn’s neck, “It’s not quite fair, is it? Your name is already short and not quite nickname friendly.”

“I take it back, I’m never calling you Rach ever again,” Quinn said looking over Rachel’s shoulder for her fathers. Rachel pouted and only clung to the other girl tighter. “I have to go.” There was movement inside the Berry house and Quinn dropped her hands from Rachel’s waist. Brown eyes rolled in her head and she brought Quinn’s hands to her hips. A strangled sound came from the back of Quinn’s throat and Rachel smirked.

“I’m not stopping you,” Rachel said pressing her body a little closer to Quinn’s, “You’re free to go whenever you want.”

“Then bye. I’ll see you in a week.”

“Will you miss me?”

“Uh…”

“Quinn!”

“Maybe a little,” Quinn said with a smirk. Rachel placed a bruising kiss on Quinn’s lips and reveled in the feeling of her hands tightening on her hips. 

“Then I won’t miss you either,” Rachel whispered the obviously lie against Quinn’s lips. She kissed Quinn once more and let go, ignoring the hormones swirling in her body and telling her to pull the other girl back against her. Quinn blinked at her for a moment in a daze as Rachel stepped back. “Bye, Quinn.”

“Bye, Rachel,” Quinn said before turning around and walking down the walkway.

“No Rach?”

“Bye, Rachel,” Quinn said pointedly as she turned down the sidewalk and disappeared towards her house. Rachel closed the door slowly, pulling her lip between her teeth and trying to suppress her smile. With a dreamy sigh, she skipped up to her room and threw herself on the bed with a giggle. It took all her willpower not to text Quinn immediately, but she managed to resist. She was rewarded a little while later when her phone buzzed with a text message.

 _I’m home. Just so you know,_ read Quinn’s text.

 _Thank you for letting me know,_ Rachel replied.

_You’re welcome._

_Is that all?_

_What else do you want?_

_I don’t know, Quinn, maybe a little something more from the girl I just made out with._

_Is that what we did?_

_Yes, Quinn. Is that a problem?_

_I guess not._

Rachel couldn’t tell whether Quinn was just trying to push her buttons and get a rise out of her, or whether she was actually being this frustrating. Either way, Rachel didn’t want to deal with it.

_Quinn, stop being so difficult._

I’m not.

You are.

Am not.

Now you’re purposefully being difficult and I don’t understand why.

Maybe because you’re so cute when you get flustered.

Rachel paused and reread the text over and over again, a smile blooming on her face.

_You think I’m cute?_

_Once in a while I guess._

_Quinn Fabray thinks I’m cute._

_Don’t gloat. I take it back._

_You can’t take it back. It’s forever saved in text._

_Whatever. I have to go. I’ll text you tomorrow._

Rachel typed a message, protesting Quinn’s departure and explaining several reasons she didn’t have to go for the night since texting was the silent form of communication that could be down at any time. But she erased it and retyped a noncommittal answer, not wanting to scare Quinn off.

_Okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow then. Goodnight._

Rachel waited for another message from Quinn that never came. But she texted her the next day as promised and it brought the biggest smile to Rachel’s face. They texted consistently for the next three days, causing Hiram to give her a look every time Rachel would smile or giggle at her phone. Leroy would nudge Hiram every time but their daughter just ignored them. She was too stuck in her Quinn bubble to truly care what they were communicating about. If they had something to say, they could say it directly to her.

It was the end of her third day in isolation, as she liked to call it (drama would always be apart of her life) when she settled into bed and sent off a goodnight text to Quinn that she thought back on the past few days. The other girl didn’t do much talking about feelings. It was hard enough to get her talking at all, let alone about emotions. Quinn would always deflect Rachel’s little comments of affection. It frustrated Rachel to no end, but that certainly didn’t stop her from peppering the blonde with affection every moment she could.

She settled back against her pillows with a sigh, setting her phone on the nightstand and thinking about her…friend. She couldn’t necessarily call her a girlfriend, could she? Maybe she could…she hadn’t asked Quinn about it yet. She figured that they had only kissed twice. Technically four times, but in two separate instances. She counted it as kissing twice. Two kisses which certainly was not enough for her. Maybe she would talk to Quinn about it soon after her week long stint in jail was done.

A knock at her window had Rachel sitting straight up in her bed, fingers gripping the sheets. Her bed was positioned next to the bed in a way that she couldn’t see out the window from her place. Another knock came and she dove onto her stomach on the mattress and reached for the bat she kept under her bed. She gripped it tightly and swung her legs out of the bed, slowly creeping towards the window. She flattened her back against the wall right next to the window, taking a deep breath before jumping out, the bat in front of her.

That’s when she noticed a head of blonde hair faltering and nearly falling off of the roof outside her window. 

“What the fuck-!” Quinn said grabbing onto the window’s ledge and glaring at Rachel.

“Oh my Moses, Quinn!” Rachel said a little too loudly, rushing over to the window and throwing it up, “I’m so sorry.” Rachel leaned outside the window and saw that Quinn’s feet were right at the edge of the roof. The blonde glared at her and pulled herself up towards the window so that their faces were close.

“That’s what I get for trying to surprise you,” Quinn mumbled, “Put the bat down, Berry.” Rachel gave her an apologetic smile and set the bat back down next to her bed. She held Quinn’s face in her hands and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

“I’m sorry, Quinn,” she whispered, helping her into the bedroom, “I thought you were a predator.”

“A predator knocking politely at your window?” Quinn asked in an angry whisper.

“Yes, to lull me into a false sense of security before attacking me,” Rachel said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Quinn rolled her eyes and brushed dirt off the front of her shirt.

“Last time I visit you unannounced or else I might get murdered,” she said looking at the bat next to Rachel’s bed.

As soon as Quinn straightened back up, she threw her arms around the blonde’s waist and held her close. She felt Quinn return the hug, despite the huffing and puffing she was doing trying to act angry. Rachel knew she wasn’t angry with her. Not if she would come over here in the middle of the night to visit her.

“You missed me,” Rachel said dreamily, pulling back to look up at Quinn. She shrugged and avoided Rachel’s gaze.

“I was just bored,” she said, trying to play it off.

“You were bored so you climbed up onto my roof in the middle of the night to sneak into my window?” the brunette teased with a smile. Quinn just shrugged and looked down at her feet, but Rachel ducked her head so that she was in the other girl’s direct view. “You missed me.”

Quinn rolled her eyes, “Fine, maybe a little. But just a little.

“I missed you too,” Rachel whispered, squeezing Quinn tighter, “This has been the worst grounding of my life.”

“So dramatic,” she teased. They stood like that for a moment, brown eyes gazing into hazel as they just stood and soaked each other in. Smiles began to bloom on their faces until Quinn broke the silence. “I feel overdressed.”

Rachel looked down at her short pajama shorts and cami shirt that had ridden up to reveal a stripe of her tan belly. With a blush she looked over at Quinn’s jeans and a baggy cheerios hoodie. She couldn’t be more covered up if she tried. “Well if I had known I was going to have company I might have put on something more appropriate,” Rachel said pulling down her shirt.

“I’m not complaining,” Quinn muttered almost silently as she pulled away from Rachel and sat on the edge of the bed. The look that Quinn gave her as she passed made Rachel’s entire body warm from her toes to the roots of her hair. She wondered if Quinn even knew the look she had given her or if it was a subconscious thing. Either way, Rachel liked the implications. She turned on her heels and walked over to Quinn until their knees knocked together. Quinn’s hands found Rachel’s hips without being guided, her knees falling open so that Rachel could slot her body between them and Rachel put her arms around a pale neck.

“Why’d you come?” Rachel whispered as her slender fingers playing with the ends of blonde hair, curling and uncurling it around her digits.

“Because I like taking my life into my hands,” Quinn whispered, raising an eyebrow at the other girl. 

Rachel scoffed and hit Quinn’s shoulder lightly, “Quinn. Really. Why’d you come here?”

The blonde stayed silent for a moment, a hint of a smile on her lips as she looked over Rachel’s features. For once, Rachel didn’t prompt her for an answer. Instead her impatience was quelled by the look Quinn was giving her. It was strong and steady, making Rachel feel completely adored.

“I came to see you, Rach. I missed you.”

Rachel kissed Quinn deeply and had no intention of stopping.


	10. Chapter 10

“Quinn, what are we?”

“…human.”

“Quinn! I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

Rachel huffed and crossed her arms as best she could with the way they were laying on the bed on their sides, simply staring at each other. The past few nights, Quinn had been sneaking in to Rachel’s room to spend time with her every night. Mostly they talked, but it was also a lot of kissing which Rachel thoroughly enjoyed. Quinn had remained very respectful every time, her hands never wandering further then up Rachel’s back or on her hips. Rachel, on the other hand, was constantly being admonished by Quinn. Mostly when her hands began to inch a little too low or when they creeped high up the blonde’s ribs, ghosting along the edge of her bra.

“Quinn, what are we?” Rachel repeated, uncrossing her arms and scooting closer to Quinn.

“You’re going to have to be more specific or you won’t like my answer,” Quinn said in a way that told Rachel that the other girl knew exactly what she was talking about. Rachel got specific anyways.

“Are we…dating?” Rachel asked softly, playing with the string from Quinn’s Cheerios sweatshirt. She secretly was waiting for the day when she could steal it from the other girl.

“We haven’t even been on a date,” Quinn said simply.

“You know what I mean,” Rachel insisted, “Are we…girlfriends?”

Quinn visibly stiffened and looked away from Rachel’s eyes. “Rachel-“

“I just want to know-“

“Rachel, please-“

“I mean, you have been sneaking in to my room for a few days now-“

“Yeah, but-“

“And all the kissing-“

“Rach-“

“Not that I’m complaining-“

“Rachel!”

Quinn’s loud outburst killed all of the words on Rachel’s lips and she shrunk a little into the mattress. Hazel eyes were hardened and Rachel almost recoiled. This Quinn reminded Rachel a little too much of the Quinn that used to throw slashes at her that never hurt twice as much as the words she threw her way. Quinn closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them back up, she looked soft again. Like the Quinn that had been climbing into her window for the past few days. 

“Rachel,” Quinn repeated, softer. She raised a hand to stroke Rachel’s cheek softly, “I just…I can’t label anything…”

“Why?” Rachel whispered.

“I’m sorry I just…” Quinn took a deep breath and looked away again, “It just…makes it feel real.”

The brunette blinked at Quinn for a moment, trying to figure out exactly what she was saying. If this wasn’t real, what was it? If the kissing and touching and all that wasn’t real, Rachel didn’t know what she was doing. What they were doing.

“What do you mean?” Rachel asked instead, licking her lips a little in worry.

Quinn shut her eyes and sat up, dangling her legs off the edge of the bed, elbows resting on her knees and head in her hands. Rachel sat up after her, crossing her legs on the bed, front facing Quinn’s side. She wanted to reach out and touch Quinn, to comfort her in some way, but her little outburst a few moments before worried Rachel. She worried that if she pushed too hard, she would revert back to Head Cheerleader Quinn Fabray and her Quinn would be lost.

“I can’t fucking explain it, Rachel,” Quinn said through gritted teeth. Rachel almost admonished her for the curse word but knew better of it, “I just…I can’t…my dad…”

The brunette knew enough about Quinn’s father to know that he was not a nice man. He was gruff and rude at best, down right cruel usually. Quinn hardly ever talked about him and when she did a cloud would go over her eyes and Rachel just tried to kiss it away. There was no way that Quinn’s father would be in any way shape or form okay with his daughter hanging out with Rachel, let alone sneaking out in the night to kiss her. 

“I get that you’re scared of your father,” Rachel said softly, “But he never has to know-“

“I’m not scared of him,” Quinn said suddenly, “I’m scared of…of what he says. What if he’s right?”

“About what?” Rachel asked, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

“About…about being gay,” Quinn said softly, “What if he’s right when he says that all homosexuals are going to hell and are sinners?”

Rachel kept her scoffing in check. “He’s not.” Her own father’s had raised her in a Jewish household but she was familiar with Christianity. She had a phase in elementary school where she demanded to read about other religions so she could make her own decision about whether or not she wanted to be Jewish. It was no secret that the most close minded of any religion saw homosexuality as a sin punishable by death. That much was apparent from the looks and comments her father got in Lima on a daily basis.

“What if he is?” Quinn repeated, “I can’t-…my mother raised me to be a good wife. A young woman who is smart, and pretty, and knows how to take care of a house. If I’m gay-“

“You’re so much more then that, Quinn,” Rachel said scooting just a little closer to her, “You’re more then just a pretty girl or a housewife or…gay even. If you realize you are that is.” She added the last part quickly when hazel eyes snapped to hers. “You’re so smart and kind, none of that stuff has to define you. You can just…be you.”

Quinn sat quietly for a moment and Rachel sat in the silence with her, focusing on the beat of Quinn’s breath as to not drive herself crazy. The times that they didn’t talk (and had no other activities as to occupy their mouths with) was always the hardest for Rachel. It was hard to not say anything but she knew from experience that if she did, she would interrupt whatever process Quinn’s mind was going through. The only real problem was the Rachel never knew when Quinn’s mind would be done. And that was always the longest waiting game-

“I can’t call you my girlfriend,” Quinn whispered finally. Her eyes were trained on her lap and Rachel hoped she didn’t hear the tiny break in her heart. She couldn’t say she was expecting anything else. The whole situation with Quinn was anything but easy up to this point. “If I call you my girlfriend it makes…it makes everything real.”

“Okay,” Rachel said softly, trying to remain unaffected and forcing a smile, “You don’t need to call me your girlfriend.”

Quinn looked at Rachel for a moment before looking away. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.”

“And I also can’t…be the man.”

Rachel sat in shock for a moment before giggling. “The man?”

Quinn gave her a look. “Yes, in the relationship. Why are you laughing?”

“Because that’s not how it works.”

“That’s how it works on television and in the books. And I’m the taller one so-”

“You know, Quinn, for a smart girl sometimes I wonder about you.”

The blonde practically glared at Rachel and crossed her arms tight over her chest. “Whatever. I was just saying, I don’t know how to romance another girl.”

Rachel lit up and practically bounced in excitement closer to the blonde, “Don’t worry, I’ll romance you.”

Quinn blushed. “I don’t know about that, Berry.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll love it.”

There was silence again for another few moments, so Rachel reached for Quinn’s hand and squeezed it softly. Quinn squeezed her hand back and Rachel let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Her Quinn was still there.

“Do you think this could be a one time thing?” Quinn asked, looking down at their hands, “Like, do you think I might not be…gay, that I might just like…you?”

Rachel shrugged and laid back down on the bed. Quinn laid on her back next to her and Rachel laid on her side so she could better look at her. “I think it’s fully possible. I don’t necessarily consider myself gay, I just like peoples personalities and their gender is secondary.”

Quinn raised an eyebrow at the other girl. “You like me for my personality? I tortured you, Rachel. I was a bitch to you.”

“But you’re also beautiful,” Rachel said with a blush, “I admit that I was initially attracted to you for purely shallow reasons. But then I could see who you were below the bitchiness.”

The blonde was quiet for a while and Rachel was worried that she’d said something wrong. A slow, shy smile bloomed on Quinn’s face and she looked down at her hands that were playing on her stomach. “You think I’m beautiful?”

“I know you are, Quinn,” Rachel said without thinking.

Quinn squeezed her eyes shut in an adorable way that made Rachel want to lean over and kiss her silly. “You’re the only person who’s called me that that I actually believe,” Quinn whispered.

“But people call you beautiful all the time,” Rachel said lacing her fingers with Quinn’s over her stomach.

“Yeah, but it always feels like they want something in return,” she replied. Her thumb swept over the back of Rachel’s hand. “With you I-…it’s different.” Rachel blushed deeply and nuzzled Quinn’s shoulder, pressing a soft kiss to the cloth covered skin. Quinn sighed and looked over at the shorter girl with a smile. “I should probably go.”

She moved to get out of the bed and Rachel held her tighter. “Stay? Please?”

“Your dads-“

“You can leave in the morning before their up.”

“Now you’re making me get up early? During the summer?”

“Quinn, please,” Rachel begged with a pout. The other girl groaned in frustration but Rachel could see the smile on her face. 

“Fine.”

Rachel squeaked in joy and snuggled her front further into Quinn’s side, her head resting on the blonde’s shoulder. “Thank you, baby.”

The nickname sat there between them, but neither of them said anything. “Goodnight, Rach,” Quinn said with a hint of a smile in her voice.

“Night, Quinn.”


	11. Chapter 11

A large hand on Rachel's shoulder shook her awake and she blinked away the sleep from her eyes.  She looked go at her father who had an amused look on his face.

"Daddy?"

He put a finger to her lips to shush her and pointed to her side.  For the first time, Rachel realized her arm was tight about...someone.  And that someone happened to be Quinn Fabray.  Rachel's front was pressed to her back, arm around her middle and Quinn just barely hanging onto the edge of the bed.  With a sigh, Rachel removed her arm from around Quinn.  She was too tired to bother being embarrassed that her father found her cuddling in bed with a girl.  He gestured for Rachel to follow him and began to walk out of the room.  Rachel begrudgingly got out of bed and followed him, Quinn barely stirring and mumbling something unintelligible as the bed dipped with the brunette's weight.

She glanced at the clock and shuffled out the door, closing it quietly behind her.  It wasn’t as late as she thought, her and Quinn must have knocked out right after they said their goodnights. Her daddy was leaning against the railing of the stairs, arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Rachel," he began quietly, "I thought you understood you were grounded."

She rubbed some sleep from her eyes and absently wondered what time it was.  "I do," she said softly, avoiding his eyes.

"We thought we'd heard something these past couple of nights, but we didn't want to invade your privacy.  Especially when we knew you understood the perimeters of your grounding.  There was no reason you'd be sneaking people into your room," Leroy began with a hint of an amused smile, "So imagine your dad's surprise when he went in your room to put your fresh towel in the bathroom."

"Why couldn't he just wait-?"

"Because he just finished the laundry and knows you never check for a towel before you get in the shower.  And then you hit your highest note to get our attention," he answered easily, "Now, young lady, I really don't think you're the one to be asking questions here.  Your father was so besides himself that I had to force him to go cool off in the bedroom.  So answer me, why is Quinn in your room?"

The question was asked without judgement, but Rachel still felt her heart racing in her chest.  She licked her lips nervously and shrugged.  "She just came to see me and then we were talking and fell asleep."

"And the past three nights?"

"She wasn't-"

"Rachel Barbara Berry, don't lie to me.  Your Dad wanted me to ground you for life, you know.  I'm trying to do you a favor by letting you explain," Leroy said firmly.  Her daddy had always been the nicer disciplinarian of her two dads.  Hiram tended to freak out and in his panic throw the hardest punishment at his daughter.

Rachel sighed dramatically.  "She's been coming by to see me since I've been grounded."

Leroy nodded and squinted at her for a moment.  "Is she your girlfriend?"

She had never blushed harder in her life when she shook her head.  It wasn't a lie, Quinn was very firm on the fact that they weren't girlfriends in any way.

"Do you like her?"

Rachel looked away from her Daddy's gaze and crossed her arms in front of her chest.  She toed the carpet with her foot, avoiding eye contact as she whispered.  "Yes."

"Does she like you?"

She chewed on her bottom lip.  "I'd rather not answer for someone else."

Her Daddy nodded in understanding, but still smiled knowingly.  She hated how it seemed her father always had all the answers.  He somehow knew everything before he even asked.  It was annoying, especially for a teenager.

"Rachel, when Quinn wakes up later, please tell her to leave through the front door and not lower herself out your window like a burglar," he said running a hand over his face.

“Yes, Daddy,” she mumbled, arms tightening around her chest. 

Leroy stared at her for another moment longer before gesturing towards her room. “Now go back to bed.” Rachel nodded and turned on her heels to stalk towards her room. “And leave the door open!”

Rachel made it a point to make her footfalls a little harder as she walked back into her bedroom. She opened and closed the door (blatantly ignoring her father) as quietly as she could and slipped back into the covers next to Quinn. It seemed that the girl had decided to plant herself in the middle of the bed since Rachel had gone. The brunette would find it adorable if she wasn’t banished to less then half of her own bed. She tried not to disturb Quinn as she laid close to her, laying on her side so that she could put an arm over the other girl’s stomach. Quinn was sleeping so hopefully Rachel could play it off like she accidentally found herself here in this position in the middle of the night. She decided to get a little daring and let her hand slip low on Quinn’s hip when a hand clasped her own abruptly, stopping her ascent and causing her to jump.

“Quinn!”

“Berry,” Quinn croaked, opening up her eyes sleepily and turning her head to look at Rachel, “your dad isn’t happy, I’m guessing.”

Rachel blushed and laced her fingers with Quinn instead of attempting to place it on her hip. “They just like to cause trouble. It’s fine.”

Quinn hummed, her eyes fluttering back shut. “I guess I won’t be seeing you again until your grounding is up.”

With a huff, Rachel was about to protest, but a pair of soft lips stopped her in her tracks. She sighed and relaxed back into the mattress, just enjoying the gentle press of Quinn’s lips against her own.

“Sleep,” Quinn whispered against her lips, “No more talking.”

Rachel just nodded dumbly and placed a final kiss on Quinn’s lips. She smiled sleepily as Rachel adjusted herself so that her head was on Quinn’s shoulder and they drifted off to sleep.

The next days of her grounding were unbearable. Rachel would use her half hour of computer time each day to email Quinn what was practically a novel about her day. It was always bleak and boring, but somehow she made it into pages and pages of commentary. Quinn would always reply, slightly less verbose. But Rachel would take what she could get.

The last day of her grounding, Rachel sat at her computer and opened up her emails. There was nothing much of interest, mostly ads. After a moment of contemplation, she opened up a new email and typed in Quinn’s email address. She started typing quickly:

_Dear Quinn,_

_I hope you’re feeling fine and well. What have you been doing since we were last together? I’ve been filling up my days with absolutely nothing. I already organized and reorganized my sheet music five times AND cleaned my father’s room. I even organized their record collection since for some reason they had it arranged in alphabetical order. Who in their right mind would do that? So I organized it by genre, subgenera and then alphabetical order. The way it should be._

Rachel paused her fingers over the keyboard for a moment. If she let herself, she could write pages and pages to Quinn about missing her and hoping to see her soon. So she stopped herself and instead decided to wrap it up. She didn’t want to seem too desperate or anything…but she just missed Quinn so much. Not that she would ever say that to her directly. Not through email anyways. It would be too easy for Quinn to write off or overreact to.

_Anyways, I just wanted to send you this email since my father’s have cruelly taken away my cell phone. After tomorrow, my time locked up will be over and we can see each other again. Talk to you soon, Quinn._

Rachel

She read over it once more to check for typos before sending it, the small swooshing sound of her mail being sent made her smile as she imagined Quinn opening her email and seeing her message. She spent a few more minutes cleaning out her inbox and spam folder when a small ‘ding’ alerted her of a new email. Her heart leapt in her chest even as she tried not to get her hopes up. She didn’t want to assume that Quinn had already wrote her back. After all it had only been few minutes. She practically leapt out of her seat in joy to see Quinn had replied and wasted no time opening the email.

_Rachel,_

_I’m surprised your email was so short when you’re usually so verbose. Can I come over the morning that you’re freed from your grounding?_

_Quinn._

_P.S. I miss you._

Rachel’s heart swelled, her smile so big it almost hurt as she read the email over and over again.


End file.
